


Shattered and Rebuilt

by DeiaMatias



Series: The Phoenix Rises [2]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Adjusting to the New Normal, Angel Chloe, Angst and Feels, Case Fic, F/M, Hell, Identity Reveal, Slow Burn, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:54:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 62,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24139942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeiaMatias/pseuds/DeiaMatias
Summary: Takes place immediatly after the events of "Broken and Damned."In the previous story, Chloe got wings and God made her the Queen of Hell. Now, Lucifer is trying to work through his feelings about the Father Kinley debacle, and Chloe spends a lot of time blaming herself. Can they find a new normal now that they're back on Earth? Goes AU after 4x02.
Relationships: Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar
Series: The Phoenix Rises [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1741381
Comments: 803
Kudos: 449





	1. Shattered

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back! This story is 100% drafted, and 8 of the 12 chapters of this story are written. Updates 1-2 times per week. I'm aiming to keep chapter lengths between 2000-4000 words. I reserve the right to add more chapters if I get long winded (Who am I kidding? Of course I'll get long winded. The original outline for this was 7 chapters). This will still be angsty... but slightly less angsty than the last installment.
> 
> Chapter 1 has a bit of recap in it to refresh your memory.... along with some new angst.

Chloe walked up the path to her house, a thousand emotions pulling her in different directions. She unlocked the door with her now scar-free hand and walked inside. She just wanted to drink and be numb. And probably spend all night staring at her ceiling, unable to sleep. Chloe walked into her kitchen, pulling a bottle of wine out of the fridge.

As she shut the door, she was shocked to see a demon standing next to her.

“Granny Panties Decker is the new Queen of Hell? You’ve got to be shitting me.” Maze burst into laughter. “You’re going to need something stronger than wine.” She handed Chloe a bottle of vodka, grinning from ear to ear. “Cheers, your majesty.”

“Don’t call me that,” Chloe said, handing the vodka back to Maze. “And I’m not trying to get drunk. I’ve got to work in the morning. It’s after midnight.”

Maze leaned in and sniffed. “You really are an angel. Why are you an angel?” She shoved the vodka bottle back at Chloe.

Chloe shoved past her, the bottle of wine still in her hands. “Lucifer’s dad thought it would be a good idea.” She flopped down on the couch, twisting the top off her bottle of Chardonnay.

Maze had been rummaging around under the sink, but stopped when she heard that. “Where’d you meet Lucifer’s dad?”

“Heaven.” Chloe took a swig, straight out of the bottle. Maze shut the cabinet door and came to the couch, the vodka and another bottle of wine in her hands.

“The Queen of Hell doesn’t drink cheap grocery store wine. Here.” She shoved the red into Chloe’s hands.

*****

Linda Martin woke to her phone ringing. With bleary eyes, she saw Lucifer’s name on her caller ID. She picked up the phone. “I’ve learned my lesson. I will never give a patient my phone number again.”

“I just talked to my father.”

Linda sat up and almost dropped her phone in shock. “Are you okay?”

Silence.

“Do you want to come over?”

“Please.”

Linda sighed. “Be at my house in 30 minutes. I’m charging you triple.”

*****

“The Queen of Hell may not drink cheap wine, but Chloe Decker does.” Chloe tried to hand the bottle back to Maze.

“It’s not like it’ll get you drunk either way.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you honestly think Lucifer could drink that much if he had a human’s metabolism?”

“Good point.” Chloe grabbed the vodka from Maze.

Maze sat down in front of her. “So, how’d you get to heaven?”

Chloe took a swig, expecting a burn from the vodka that didn’t come. “I died. Did you replace this with water? Why doesn’t this burn?”

“One, it’s good shit. Two, you’re an angel now. You died? How?”

“Gunshot. Someone was aiming for Lucifer. I got in front of him.”

*****

“So the Detective and I went to confront the priest,” Lucifer said. “I was absolutely livid at her, but I wanted to punish the bastard that shoved her down this path.”

“Understandable,” Linda said, nodding.

“We talked. He was just as vile I’ve found most of his brethren to be throughout the years. He’d filled Chloe’s head with all this “The Devil is Evil” garbage. And she believed him! Over me! She’s a DETECTIVE!”

“We’ll come back to that later, Lucifer, I promise. What happened next?”

Lucifer brushed an invisible piece of smut off his pants. “Chloe and I argued. She brought up the point that I could have,” he cleared his throat, “maybe handled things better.”

_ That’s an understatement, _ Linda thought. “And then?”

“The priest disappeared while I was distracting Chloe. He shot her. Her soul was still bound for Hell, I could feel it. So, I gave her my forgiveness, hoping that it would be enough. She told me she loved me.” Lucifer paused, taking a deep breath. “And then the Detective died.”

Linda’s hands flew to her mouth. “Lucifer, I’m so sorry. Has someone talked with Dan and Trixie yet? Have you called the police?”

Lucifer jerked from his contemplation. “Oh! No, you don’t have to worry. She’s fine now. I dropped her off at her home. She’s with Maze.”

Linda’s hands dropped and she stared at him for a moment, slack jawed. She got up and went to her kitchen. She grabbed two glasses and a bottle, placing one in front of Lucifer. Her hands shook as she poured the liquor. She downed her glass and refilled it. “Maybe lead with that next time, Lucifer.”

“Apologies, Doctor,” he said, taking his glass.

“So, tell me how Chloe came back from the dead.”

“I flew her to Heaven. Banged on the gates, and demanded to speak to my father. He came out with Chloe’s father. They took her through the gates and had a little chat with her.”

“What were you doing while they were in there?”

Lucifer was silent for so long that Linda didn’t think he would answer. “I contemplated the fact that the last time I stood on that spot, my wings had just been broken, I was bound and was seconds away from being thrown into Hell.”

“You hadn’t seen your father or been home since then?”

Lucifer shook his head.

“What was going through your head while you were waiting for your father to return with Chloe?”

He took a deep in before speaking. “That this was not the return to the Silver City that I had ever imagined. I’d picture it at times throughout the years. Coming back with a horde of demons at my back and breaking down the gate. Bloodshed, carnage, etc.”

“Did you ever fantasize that maybe someday you’d be invited back?”

Lucifer scoffed, but didn’t answer.

_ That’s a yes, _ Linda thought.

“But today, you weren’t there for you. You were there for Chloe, fighting for the soul of a woman who just betrayed you.”

“I still didn’t want her to go to Hell! No matter what she did to me, she didn’t deserve that. Doctor.”

“But, based on the system that’s in place, that’s exactly where she deserved to be.”

Lucifer’s eyes flashed red as he stared down the Doctor. Linda, however, was used to his antics by now, and was not the slightest bit phased at having an angry Devil in her living room. “Doctor Martin, do not suggest that the Detective belongs in Hell.”

Linda waited a minute for Lucifer to look slightly ashamed of himself and for his eyes to return to brown before she responded. “I am suggesting nothing of the sort, Lucifer. I am only pointing out that the system, as it exists, should have sent Chloe to Hell. I’m curious why you fought so hard to keep her from going.”

Lucifer deflated against the couch. “I love her. I thought she was dying. I thought...” Lucifer paused. “No matter what happened after she learned about me, she brought me an immense amount of joy before. I wanted to reward her for that. And I believe her when she says that she regrets her actions.”

Linda nodded, pleased. “So, what happened next?”

*****

“God gave you a choice?” Maze practically shouted.

Chloe nodded.

“You chose to become an angel?”

“I chose to come back to Trixie. God said that Lucifer and I could remain on Earth as long as Trixie was alive. Then we’d be expected to go to Hell.”

Maze took another swig of vodka. “I would have helped with her, you know. If you had died, I would have taken care of her.”

Chloe looked at her roommate and smiled. “Thank you, Maze. I appreciate that.”

Maze cocked her head to the side. “So, no worries about a demon raising your kid?”

Chloe grabbed the bottle and took another swing. Her mind immediately flashed to the image of Maze and Trixie, snuggled up on her couch after Trick-or-Treating. “No,” she said with a smile. “I know you’d keep her safe.”

Maze nodded. “Damn right.”

Chloe shifted so that she was facing Maze. “I owe you an apology, Maze. I’m sorry that I was scared of you. I’m sorry that I kept Trixie away from you after I found out. You’ve never done anything that would make me think that Trixie was unsafe with you.”

Maze debated for a second. Linda had told her that it was understandable that Chloe would be scared. That, for a human, divinity was scary. Linda had told her not to take it personally. “It’s cool, Decker.”

“Yeah?”

“Really.” 

Chloe smiled then. “Thanks, Maze.” Her wings chose that moment to give a little twitch inside of her. She rubbed her back against the couch, trying to relieve the itch.

“Wings bugging you?”

“How’d you know?”

“You spend a couple of thousand years with an angel as your closest ally, you pick up a couple of things. Are you going to have a weird stupid hang up about your body parts like Lucifer does or are you going to let those suckers out and let them breathe?”

*****

“Chloe’s an angel?” Linda’s jaw was on the floor.

“Yes.”

“And the new Queen of Hell?”

“Is this some kind of new therapeutic technique? Repeating back everything I say?”

“How’s Chloe feel about all this?”

Lucifer shrugged. “She panicked about losing her stretch marks. Something about her body not being hers anymore.”

“Something I imagine you can sympathize with.”

Lucifer shrugged again and took a sip of his drink. 

“What happened next?”

“I taught her how to control her wings and her eyes, then I took her home.” Lucifer swirled the alcohol around in his glass. Linda waited. “She tried to send me back to Hell, Doctor, less than 12 hours ago. Now she suddenly has wings.” He paused again, and moved from playing with his liquor to fidgeting with a cuff link. “She would look at me, from time to time, like she did before. Not afraid, not cautious, but the way she did when she kissed me,” he cleared his throat, “when she kissed me before.”

“Before she knew you were the Devil?”

Lucifer nodded.

Linda let the implications of everything she’d just learned wash over her. It was a lot. Her client was going to be spending eternity working side by side with a woman he loved, but right now, he didn’t trust her. Linda could lead him in many different directions with therapy, but all of them would have ramifications that would, quite literally, last for an eternity. So, which direction was best for Lucifer?

“Do you want to keep working with her at the LAPD?”

“She asked me if I would be at work tomorrow. I said yes.”

“Do you want to be there?”

Lucifer was silent again for a moment before answering. “I don’t know.”

“Then why did you tell her you would be there?”

Lucifer finished his drink and sulked at the empty cup for a moment before answering. “I didn’t want to hurt her anymore.”

“Even though she hurt you?”

“I still love her, Doctor.”

Linda sat back for a moment. The correct path was beginning to solidify in her mind. “She took a bullet for you tonight. What do you think that means?”

“She was punishing herself,” Lucifer fired back, angry again. “She felt guilty about what she had done, so she went out of her way to cause herself pain.”

“Do you think that was the only reason she did it?” Linda watched the wheels turn in Lucifer’s brain for a full minute before she pressed on. “Do you think she fell for you before she found out you were the Devil?”

“She said she did, but then she tried to poison me, so it couldn’t have been that real.”

“Maybe,” Linda conceded. “Or maybe she was deeply hurt by the fact that the person she loved hid something huge from her for years."

“Enough to kill me?”

“Combine that hurt with the knowledge that the man she loved was someone who human history has painted as an evil villain?”

“She knows me!”

“And you kept something massive from her. Lucifer, I’m not trying to excuse her actions. What she did to you was wrong in every way imaginable. You are completely justified in being extremely angry with her. But please keep in mind, that, from Chloe’s point of view, the person she loved lied to her.”

“I never…”

“Yes, I know. But you never went out of your way to prove it to her either, and I’m sure that was a hard pill for her to swallow, especially since it sounds like she never really fell  _ out _ of love with you. She may have felt like her trust had been misplaced.” Linda sat back, waiting again.

“She...” Lucifer reached for the bottle to pour another drink. “The Detective may have said something along those lines tonight. What do I do, Doctor?”

“That depends on what you desire, Lucifer. You have a lot of options. While completely cutting her out of your life has certain, well, celestial implications, you can certainly reduce contact to something more distant. More professional. And you would be completely justified in doing so.”

Lucifer visibly bristled at that suggestion.

“But, I think the most important thing is for you to take things slowly. The both of you are processing a lot of new information right now. Now isn’t the time to make hasty decisions.”

Lucifer poured himself another drink. Then he spent a minute examining the label on the bottle. He dusted smut off his pants, fiddled with his cufflinks, downed his drink and poured another before he spoke again, his eyes glistened slightly. “She must be so afraid right now.”

Linda nodded. “I’m sure she is.”

“I don’t know if I can make it better.”

“Do you want to?”

Lucifer leaned forward, putting his face in his hands. He sat that way, still and silent.

Finally, he spoke, his head pointing toward her living room floor. “Everything hurts right now, Doctor.”

And, with that, Linda’s heart broke just a little bit. “I know.”

*****

Chloe rolled her eyes at Maze. “I’m not going to bring the wings out.”

“Why? They’re itching you, aren’t they?”

“Well, I’m just going to have to get used to that, aren’t I? It’s not like I can walk around having them out all day.”

“Not while you’re in public, yeah. But you can keep them out around the house.”

Chloe scoffed. “And traumatize my kid? I don’t think so.”

The truth was, Chloe didn’t want to bring them out. She mostly wanted to pretend they weren’t there.

“Trixie can take it. She’s seen my demon face.”

Chloe’s eyes almost bugged out of her head. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Sure.” Maze shrugged. “She thought it was cool.”

“Maze! What if she’d been scared?”

“Your kid is made of tougher stuff than that,” Maze said with a grin.

_ But I wasn’t,  _ Chloe thought, her heart sinking to her feet. “I’m going to go take a shower. It’s late enough now that I might as well stay up. I’d like to take my daughter to school.” 

Chloe got off the couch. As she was climbing the stairs, she heard Maze shout, “I still want to see your wings!”

After walking into her bedroom, Chloe laid her head against the closed door, shutting her eyes. Talking with Maze had managed to reduce her panic to a background level, but, now that she was alone, it came back. Chloe screwed her eyes tight when she thought about the full length mirror directly across the room from where she was standing.

She really should take a look at herself, at this new body she’d somehow received.

Chloe opened one eye, just a slit. Then the other.

_ Come on, Decker, grow a pair. _

Squaring her shoulders, she marched across the room to stand in front of the mirror. She poked her finger through the bullet hole in her sweater. The red of the sweater covered the worst of the blood, but the hole was still there. She should be dead. She should be in Hell.

But, she wasn’t.

Chloe stripped the sweater off and threw it to the corner of the room, promising herself that she would burn it later. Blood had soaked through her bra as well. It joined the sweater on the floor. Her pants and underwear went next.

Looking back to the mirror, Chloe was faced with an image that was her, but wasn’t. She ran her hands over the now-flawless skin of her shoulder and her stomach. Even her breasts had changed. They looked like they’d never breastfed a child. Since she had a constant reminder of what her 19-year-old breasts had looked like, she was surprised to see that her new angel-boobs were somehow even more perfect than the ones from the movie.

The body in the mirror was perfect in every way.

There wasn’t a single mark on her skin. No sun damage. No cellulite. Not even the scars on her knees served as a reminder of her childhood misadventures, just perfectly shaped curves and smooth muscle.The only things that broke up the perfection of her skin was her small collection of moles and freckles. Those hadn’t changed at least. 

Finally, she let her gaze come to her face. No lines. No wrinkles.  _ Everyone will think that I’ve had botox.  _ Even her hair seemed thicker and fuller. Her fingers came to touch the small mole under her eye. It felt like finding an old friend in this new face.

She reached behind her to feel her back. If she pushed  _ just so _ to the inside of her shoulder blades, she could feel where her wings would sprout from her back. Screwing up her courage, she took a few steps back from the mirror and manifested her wings.

It felt  _ so good _ to have them out. Right. Complete. Whole.

They were stunning. Even in her shock, she could see that. The yellow, orange, and red feathers almost seemed to shimmer, like fire. She stretched them out to her sides, the longest feathers brushing up against the walls of her bedroom, before folding them behind her, but not yet putting them away.

There was one more thing that she needed to see.

Chloe walked back up to the mirror, until her face was only a foot away. She released the iron-clad grip she held on her fear and anger until her eyes blazed red.

It wasn’t her in the mirror. It was an angel of vengeance and pain. Chloe was looking at the Queen of Hell.

She jerked back in fear, catching her foot and collapsing to the floor with a thud, her wings spread out behind her. Her eyes were locked on the naked angel in the mirror, fear thundering through her veins.

Through her panic, she was suddenly aware of her bedroom door flying open. She jerked her head around to see Maze standing in the doorway.

“I heard you fall. I wanted to make sure you were okay,” Maze said, as if this was the most normal thing in the world. She grabbed the comforter off the bed and draped it over Chloe's naked form. She knelt in front of Chloe and grasped her chin in her hands, bringing Chloe’s red eyes to her own. “You are breathtaking, your majesty.”

Chloe tried to jerk away, but the demon increased her grip. 

“You are beautiful.” Maze brought her other hand up to touch the side of Chloe’s face. “You can’t go back to who you were, and you shouldn’t want to.” Chloe felt a tear fall from her eyes. Maze released her grip. “Now get up, Decker and stop being pathetic. You need a shower before you see the little human.”

Chloe nodded and came to her feet, the comforter clutched in front of her.

Maze gave her a once-over as she stood, like a lion assessing her prey. “I’d still fuck you by the way.”

“No,” Chloe said, rolling her eyes. She pushed past Maze and started to walk towards the bathroom. Her eyes caught the mirror again, seeing the strange, beautiful, perfect angel in the place of her own reflection. She felt her anger flare up again, causing her eyes to flash a brighter red.

Chloe Decker rammed her fist through the mirror, and watched in satisfaction as the pieces shattered and fell to the floor.


	2. Complemented

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe and Lucifer get a new case. Chloe has self-image issues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I say I'm only going to post twice a week... max... but I've got 8 chapters in the can and I can't resist.

At 6am, Chloe knocked on the door to Dan’s apartment. Dan pulled the door open, sleep still in his eyes. "Chloe? Everything okay?"

_ No, I died yesterday, and now I'm an angel.  _ "Yeah. Hey, I know it's dumb, but can I wake up Trixie and take her to school?"

Dan blinked, trying to wake up. "Sure. No problem," he said, stepping back to allow her inside.

"Thanks, Dan." She handed him a cup of coffee as she walked in.

Dan sat down at the breakfast bar, still not looking like he was quite awake. "Ella told me that you and Lucifer got your guy last night?"

She looked up, a bit panicked, before she remembered the case on the set of _The Cabin_. "Yeah. It was the cameraman. Looks like he tried to make a deal with the victim, but she backed out."

Dan took a sip of coffee, then another, his brain slowly beginning to function. "Did you do something different with your hair?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Kinda."

"You look good."

"Thanks." Chloe sipped her own coffee, eyeballing the door to Trixie's bedroom. "Think it's too early to wake her?"

"Naw, she went to bed pretty early." Dan peered at her again. Clearly the caffine was kicking in. "Chloe, is everything okay?"

Chloe decided to offer him a bit of the truth. "The suspect threw his axe at me. He would have hit me if Lucifer wasn't there. It's stupid, but I just really wanted to see Trixie this morning."

This, Dan understood. "Can I come with you?" Chloe gave him a small smile and nodded.

The two of them walked into Trixie's room, each sitting down on opposite sides of the sleeping 9 year old. Chloe brushed a strand of dark hair away from her face and leaned in to give her a kiss on her forehead. 

Trixie groaned and buried herself further under the covers.

"Good morning, Monkey."

Trixie let out a louder groan that ended in a whine. "Sleepy."

Chloe continued to stroke her hair.

"Morning time, Trixie," Dan said, putting his hand on top of the mound of covers.

Trixie gave another guttural protest that sounded like a wounded animal.

Chloe smiled down at her and said to Dan, "I swear, I think she's starting her teenage years early. She'd sleep til noon if we let her."

Dan gave a little laugh and gently shook Trixie's shoulder. Trixie wiggled away from the touch, curling around her mother. Dan pulled the blankets down, and Trixie let out the loudest groan yet. "Plug me back in! I'm not done charging!"

Chloe let out a large, joyful, genuine laugh and stroked Trixie's hair with her scar-free angelic hand.

It was 100% worth it. Whatever she had to endure was 100% worth it, just for this moment.

*****

An hour and a half later, Trixie and Chloe were on their way to school.

"I think your Grandpa John would have absolutely adored you, Trixie," Chloe said, reaching over to take her daughter's hand.

Trixie held onto Chloe's hand with both of hers. "Are you okay, Mom?"

_ No,  _ Chloe thought. "Of course, Trixie. Why do you ask?"

Trixie tightened her grip around Chloe's hand. "I don't know. Something feels off."

"Everything's fine, Monkey." Chloe brought Trixie's hand up to her lips and pressed a kiss to Trixie's knuckles.

Trixie continued to stare at her. "Are you sure?"

Chloe pulled to a stop in front of Trixie's school. "I had a weird night last night. It's a bit of a long story, though. Can I tell you about it this weekend?"

Trixie nodded. "But everything is okay?"

Chloe turned to her daughter, giving her a real smile. "It is. It just kinda gave me a lot to think about. But everything is okay."

Trixie leaned over and gave her mother a hug. "Love you, Mommy."

"I love you too, Trixie. So much." 

Trixie wiggled away from the hug. "You look really pretty today, Mom. New makeup? Your wrinkles disappeared."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Go to school, Monkey." Trixie grinned and hopped out of the car.

Before driving to work, Chloe placed her right hand over the back of her left. She held it there and counted to ten.

When she removed her hand, the scar was still gone.

*****

Chloe got catcalled by a perp on her way into the precinct. "Dang, you haven't changed a bit since Hot Tub High School! You can arrest me any time, baby."

This was getting ridiculous.

She plopped down at her desk and started randomly flipping through files, hoping that she was imagining the fact that heads kept turning in her direction.

"Did you get a new perfume, Chloe?" Ella said, walking past her desk on the way to her lab.

"Nope." Chloe angrily flipped to another file.

"Something's different about you. New eyeliner?"

Chloe looked up from her paperwork and glared at the forensic scientist. Ella backed away, her hands in the air. "You look good today. Just saying."

"Thank you," Chloe said through gritted teeth. She was fighting to keep her eyes from flaming red. 

"I'll, um, I'll catch you later, Decker." Ella turned and scurried off to her lab, almost running into Lucifer.

Chloe glared at the Devil. "So help me, if you mention one word about my appearance, I'm going to stab you with a pencil."

Lucifer sat a cup of coffee down on her desk and sat next to her. "It's the divinity. They can't help themselves."

Chloe sighed. "Is that how you've managed to bed half of Los Angeles?"

"It helps."

"Can I… I don't know… tune it down? If I wanted random people drooling over me, I would have stayed in movies."

Lucifer gave a little laugh. "Of course. I can teach you."

"Thank you. And thank you for the coffee." Chloe took a sip.

"Did you sleep at all last night?"

"No. Did you?"

Lucifer shook his head and took a sip of his own coffee. "How did things go with Maze?"

"Surprisingly well. She helped me remove my head from my ass a bit."

"I badgered the good doctor into seeing me in the middle of the night. She helped as well."

"Whatever you're paying her, it's not enough."

Lucifer straightened his cufflinks, looking mildly offended. "Well, she shouldn't have given me her personal number if she didn't expect to receive calls from time to time."

Chloe rolled her eyes and looked down at the paperwork on her desk.

"Linda brought up a good point last night."

"Oh? What was that?"

"She mentioned that we were both going through rather… trying circumstances, and that now was a bad time to make hasty decisions."

Chloe glanced down at her scar-free left hand. "That's good advice."

Lucifer followed the motion of her eyes, then reached out, taking her hand. "You used to have a scar here, Detective."

Chloe nodded. "I got it making a stupid decision in the heat of the moment. It helped me to remember to think before I acted. Didn't always work." Chloe pulled her hand from his grasp, crossing her arms over her chest.

The memory of a certain rash decision she had made recently suddenly seemed to fill the space between them.

Until a file folder suddenly dropped between them. "We got a body," Dan said.

*****

"Kassie Carlton, 32. Blunt force trauma to the head, back, arms, leg, stomach…"

"We get it, Ella," Chloe said, cutting her off. "She's wearing a wedding band. Where's the husband?"

"He's being picked up and taken to the station right now. He was at work. They're the owners of SoberRide," Dan said.

"What's SoberRide?" Chloe asked.

"Wonderful service," Lucifer said, kneeling down beside the body. "Not only did they drive you home if you'd had a bit too much to drink, but they had another driver take your car home too. We used them all the time at Lux. Whoever did this must have been furious with her."

"Betrayal?" Dan asked.

Chloe stiffened. Lucifer eyes popped to hers. "Who," Chloe stuttered, "who found the body?"

"The housekeeper. She said that no one else was here when she came in."

"We need to talk to the husband," Chloe removed her gloves and motioned to Lucifer to follow her out of the house.

Lucifer shot up and walked behind her like an overgrown puppy dog.

There was part of her that was still blown away that the Devil would listen to a little human Well, ex-human anyway. 

As they walked to the edge of the crime scene, a patrol officer's eyes caught Chloe. His stare wasn't even subtle. "You look lovely today, Detective Decker."

Chloe stopped and glared. The kid looked like he was 21. Maybe. "Is that really appropriate?" 

The kid turned a brilliant shade of red and lifted the crime scene tape.

"I think you may have given that baby cop his first erection, Detective."

She angrily jerked open the door to her car. "You've got to tell me how to turn this thing off."

Lucifer fell into the car, a grin on his face. "It doesn't go all the way  _ off,  _ but you can definitely tune it down. Divinity aside, though, you really do look lovely today."

"Because I'm not  _ me  _ anymore. Fake wrinkle removal, fake scar removal. I even think he did something to my hair. Look." She pulled her ponytail out and brushed her locks over her fingers. "It's thicker." Lucifer was silent, watching her fingers play through her hair, a blank look on his face.

She raised her hand in front of his face and snapped, annoyance in her face. Lucifer's eyes flipped back to her face. "Apologies, Detective." He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. "You, um. Well, that's to say, you are still you. Very much so."

"I don't feel like me."

"No one but you could possibly be this annoyed with me. You know, Detective, this offers a little solution to something that's been bothering me for ages."

"What's that?"

"How you've managed to resist my charms. If you've been divine the whole time, then of course they wouldn't affect you."

This may have made Lucifer feel better, but it didn’t help Chloe at all. "I've really never been human, have I?"

"Well, unless your spawn is adopted and you've never told me, you were human enough."

"What do you mean?"

"You managed to procreate with a human. So, no, you probably weren't entirely human, but you were close."

Chloe started her car, pulling away from the crime scene. "Do you think Trixie's got… I don't know… angel DNA too?"

Lucifer shrugged. "I don't know, but I doubt it."

"Why's that?"

"Do you really think anything divine could survive contact with the Douche's DNA?"

Chloe tried very hard to hide the smile that was threatening to break across her face.

"I'm going to tell her."

"Tell who what?"

"Tell Trixie. About what happened last night."

"Why? I’m not trying to say that you shouldn’t, I just want to know your reasoning.”

"She's my daughter. I won’t keep this from her."

Lucifer scoffed. “Parents keep secrets from their children all the time.”

“Sure, Santa and the Easter Bunny, or things they’re too young to understand. But this affects her life too. She deserves to know.”

Lucifer was silent for a minute. “I don’t understand.”

“What don’t you understand?”

“Why does she deserve to know?”

Chloe turned to look at him. He was doing the head tilt thing he did sometimes when she completely befuddled him. That particular response made so much more sense now that she knew he wasn’t human. So Chloe spelled it out for him. “She’s my daughter. I love her. I share my life with her.”

Lucifer blinked at her for a few seconds before replying. “Why not just tell her when she has to know? Why tell her now? You’re having a rough enough time with this. Why not wait awhile til you’re more comfortable?”

Chloe locked her eyes on the taillights in front of her before answering. “Because the longer I keep it from her, the more she’ll feel like I lied to her.”

Even though she didn’t look at him, she could feel Lucifer stiffen next to her. “The way you felt that I lied to you?”

Chloe glanced out her window and changed lanes onto the freeway onramp before answering. “You didn’t lie to me, Lucifer.”

“But you felt like I did?”

Chloe merged onto the freeway. 

“Detective?”

She clenched her hands tighter on the steering wheel. “You don’t deserve my anger.”

“Chloe, please.”

She aggressively cut over into the fast lane before finally replying. “Yes, okay? Yes. I feel like you lied to me.”

Chloe could feel him looking at her, even as she tried her hardest to ignore him. “And you don’t want your daughter to feel the same pain?”

She sighed, defeated. “Yes.”

Lucifer was silent for so long that she really hoped that he was going to drop the subject. Chloe’s driving went from borderline insane to only mildly road-ragey. 

Finally, Lucifer broke the silence. “You don’t deserve what happened to you.”

Anger spiked through Chloe’s veins and she felt her eyes turn red. “You’re right. I deserve much worse.”

“Detective…”

“Tell me more about this SoberRide app.”

Lucifer decided that there was at least even odds of her killing them both in a car wreck if he kept poking her, and let the conversation shift. “I’m afraid that I don’t know much more than what I’ve already told you, Detective.”

“Well, then Google it,” she snapped.

Lucifer sighed and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Well, look at this, Detective. They were sold last week.” He scrolled through several articles before finding one that jumped out at him. “Listen to this: ‘SoberRide owners Kassie and Kent Carlton sold the app to AppCorps after losing a two year long lawsuit filed when SoberRide driver, Jake Masters, struck and killed pedestrian Lucy Riley, a mother of two young children. Masters had an expired license.’”

“That adds to our suspect pool. When we get back to the precinct, we should pull everything we can on the lawsuit and sale.” Lucifer glanced over at her and was pleased to find that her glare had shifted from red to blue.

“If I help you with paperwork, will you be less angry with me?”

Aaannndd, now they were red again. “I’m not angry with you.”

Lucifer grinned. “I like your new eyes. They help me gauge if I’m really making you angry or if you’re just pretending to be angry while you're secretly amused at my antics.”

Chloe took a deep breath in through her nose, held it, and let it out through her teeth. Her eyes went back to blue, but the tension in her shoulders remained. “I’m,” she took another breath. “I’m not angry with you.”

She was lying. However, the lie was so transparent that Lucifer chose not to call her out on it. “May I help you with paperwork, Detective?”

Chloe's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "No. But you can help me interrogate Kent Carlton."

"Deal," the Devil said with a grin.

He was pleased when the Detective rolled her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Plug me back in! I'm not done charging!" is a line my 9 year old daughter said to me when I woke her up a few weeks ago. I think it may just be the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life. 
> 
> The idea for SoberRide is based off a company I tried to start in college after two of my oldest friends were hit and killed by a drunk driver. Due to insurance costs, I could never get the money together to get it off the ground, but if anyone wants to steal my idea, go for it! Don't drink and drive.


	3. Hungry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A suspect is interviewed. Burgers are consumed.

Chloe watched Kent Carlton through the window of the interrogation room as he paced and ran his fingers through his hair. He was a mess. His eyes were red-rimmed with tears. Chloe wiggled her shoulders as she watched him pace the room, trying to relieve the itch from her hidden wings, which irritated her, which was making her angry.

She needed to control her anger.

Anger had been her predominant emotion since seeing Lucifer’s face a month and a half ago, and she was tired of it. The fact that said anger now manifested itself in glowing red eyes whenever she let her control slip further drove home to her the fact that she may have a bit of a problem.

Fingers suddenly appeared on her back, scratching the spot between her shoulder blades and her spine. “Better?” Lucifer asked.

For a second, Chloe allowed herself to enjoy the touch. It did feel good.

Then she remembered what she had done to the man behind her. How she’d betrayed him.

And how she didn’t deserve the comfort that he was offering her.

She pulled away, “We should go talk to him.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the hurt expression that crossed his face.

Chloe stopped, her hand on the door. “Lucifer, it’s not you. I just…” she searched for a way to put her thoughts into words. “I’m not mad at you or scared of you or anything like that. I’m just…”

“Mad and scared? In general?”

Chloe nodded, looking at the door handle. She cleared her throat, straightened her back, and rolled her shoulders, wincing slightly at the feel of her wings compressing between her shoulder blades and her spine. “I’m okay,” she said, mostly to herself. “Let’s go to work.”

Lucifer followed Chloe into the interrogation room. When they entered, Kent Carlton jerked towards them. “Do you have news? What happened to Kassie? Was it Pete Riley?”

And, just like that, Chloe was able to slip into the role of Detective. She sat down across from him, opening her file. “Pete Riley?”

Kent nodded. “One of our drivers hit and killed his wife. After bleeding us of every cent, I imagine this would be his perfect idea of revenge.”

Chloe jotted his name down in the file. “We’ll look into him.”

Lucifer stood behind Chloe. “That would be poetic, wouldn’t it?” he said, slipping into his own role. “That would put everything into a perfect little box if this Pete offed your wife. He certainly seems to have the motive. But, as you said, he bled you dry. After taking all your money, you think he still wanted more?”

Kent’s eyes flicked from Lucifer to Chloe, then back to Lucifer. “I’m not sure what you’re saying.”

Lucifer smiled. “It seems odd that a man who would go through all the time and effort of a legal battle would suddenly switch to a more… hands on type of punishment.”

Chloe broke in. “We’ll speak to Mr. Riley. Mr. Carlton, I was wondering if you could tell me about the sale of your company.”

“What’s that have to do with Kassie?”

“I don’t know,” Chloe said. “But I can’t rule out that the two events were related without more information.”

Kent leaned back and sighed. “It’s going to make you think that I’m guilty.”

“Are you?” Lucifer asked.

“No.” Kent looked Lucifer straight in the eye. “I loved my wife.”

Lucifer held his eyes for a minute, searching for a lie. When none could be found, he sat next to Chloe.

“The sale, Mr. Carlton?”

Kent tapped his fingers on the tabletop. “We were young and stupid when we started this. We’d only been married a year when my brother was killed. He was hit by a drunk driver. The driver said that the reason he didn’t take a cab home was because he needed his car the next morning. So, the idea of SoberRide was born. One driver drives the client’s car home with the client in the passenger seat, another driver follows behind. We were donation based. We never charged for a ride, but we had recommended donations. Most people were more than happy to pay for the service, but we didn’t want cost to become a barrier for people who needed it.”

“That sounds like a noble undertaking, Mr. Carlton.”

Kent nodded. “We felt we were doing God’s work.” Chloe stiffened in her chair. Lucifer rolled his eyes. “All of our drivers were volunteers. We ran background checks and driving records on all of them, but Jake’s license expired, and it slipped through the cracks.”

“Jake was…”

“He was the driver that hit Lucy Riley. Our insurance skyrocketed. Everyone sued us. Kassie and I nearly divorced then.”

“Why is that?”

Kent was quiet for another minute. “It was my job to check IDs. I made a mistake and it nearly cost us everything. Kassie was the brains behind it. She did the programming of the app, she found donors. I had to do one thing: coordinate volunteers and make sure they were legal, and I failed at it.” Kent cleared his throat and leaned back. “We made it through, even though the lawsuit took everything we had. But, we could have come back. I know it.”

“So why did you choose to sell?”

“I didn’t. It was Kassie’s idea. She found the buyer. She said that the model would still stand for the most part, but the “donations” would become a fee. The company said that there wasn’t a way to pay for the overhead without it. I hated the idea.”

“What changed your mind?”

“I didn’t. Last week, Kassie just told me that it was done. She forged my signature on the paperwork. And what was my life’s work was now sold to a company that just wanted to make a profit,” Kent said, anger in his voice.

“She betrayed you,” Lucifer said.

Kent took in a ragged breath. “But we were going to get through it. I’m not blameless in this whole thing either. We both made mistakes. I loved her. We were going to make it work.”

The room descended into silence, all three of them lost in their own personal misery. Finally, Chloe spoke up. “Tell me everything that happened from last night til this morning.”

Kent wiped at his eyes and sat up. “We talked about the whole thing. We made up. Then we made love. Went to bed. I woke up this morning at 5, went to the gym, then went to work." He stopped, catching his breath. "When do you think she…”

“Sometime between 5 and 8 this morning,” Chloe said. “Can you give us the name of your gym? We’ll have to check their logs.”

Kent nodded. “Please find whoever did this. We would have been okay, if we’d just had a little more time.” His voice hitched. “I just wish we’d had more time.”

*****

“I don’t think he did it,” Lucifer said, opening the door to Ella’s lab.

“No, I don’t either,” Chloe agreed, shutting the door behind her. “Dan’s checking the video footage at the gym and at their office now. Ella, do you know what was used to kill her?”

Ella looked up from her microscope. “Looks like it was something wooden and smooth. Probably a baseball bat.”

“Did it leave any particles?”

“Yeah, tons. It’ll be super easy to link her to the murder weapon, the hard part will be proving who swung it.”

Dan walked into the room, shutting the door behind him. He handed a stack of paper to Chloe. “Stills from the video footage of the gym and office. He got to the gym at 5:30, and it’s a 15 minute drive from their house. He went straight from there to his office, and was there until he was picked up.”

“So, theoretically, he could have done it, but it would be tight.”

Dan flipped through the pages, putting one on top of the pile. “The video from the gym is pretty clean. Blunt force trauma makes a mess, and there’s not a drop of blood on him.”

“I’ll take another look at the shower, but it seems like he’s not our guy,” Ella said.

Chloe flipped through the images. “Yeah. Let’s talk to this Pete Riley. It seems like a longshot, but we need to cross him off the list.”

“Agreed,” Lucifer said, opening the door for her. Chloe walked out, Lucifer on her heels. “I’m driving, Detective. Your driving terrifies me today.”

Chloe rolled her eyes, but acquiesced.

*****   
  


Pete Riley had a video doorbell that clearly showed him leaving his front door at 6am, changing his oil, going back in his house, then leaving for work, freshly showered. Solid alibi.

“Hungry?” Lucifer asked as they walked out of the house.

“No.”

“Have you eaten since…”

“No.”

“Mind if we grab some drive through? There’s a burger place down the road.”

“Okay.” Chloe got in the passenger seat of her car. Lucifer drove again. He ordered two burgers from the drive-thru, the second one without ketchup. “Why are you ordering food for me?”

“Because we’re probably coming up on 24 hours since you’ve eaten and I’m hoping it will make you feel better.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Well, in the strictest sense of the word, you’ll never be hungry again, but food is wonderful.” Lucifer handed the cashier a $100 bill in exchange for a soda and a brown bag with two greasy burgers. He pulled into a parking spot in front of the restaurant and handed Chloe her burger.

“I don’t need to eat?”

Lucifer made an affirmative noise while chewing his burger.

“So why do you eat constantly?”

“Because food is good. Eat, before it gets cold. And don’t worry about calories. Those days are behind you.”

Chloe, who had basically been on a diet for her entire life, looked at her burger with renewed interest. She unwrapped it from it’s paper covering and dug in. “This is really good,” she said, around a mouthful of meat and bun.

Lucifer watched her eat, his own burger forgotten. She devoured the burger in record time and turned, eyeballing the large soda in her cup holder. “Is that diet?”

“Nope,” Lucifer said, handing her the drink.

She gulped it down, moaning as the sugar hit her tongue. “It’s been years since I’ve had real soda.” When about half of the soda was gone, she realized that Lucifer was staring at her. “What?”

He straightened in his seat and took a bite of his burger. “You looked content. I liked it.”

“Why aren’t you mad at me?”

Lucifer sighed. “I still am. But you’re so miserable right now. I didn’t want to add to it.”

Chloe took another sip of her soda and stared out the window. “I punched my hand through my mirror last night.”

“Why’d you do that?”

“I didn’t like what I saw.”

Lucifer gave a tiny scoff. “I understand that. I may have punched a few mirrors in my life.”

“I didn’t bleed.” Chloe leaned forward, opening the glovebox of her car. She pulled out a small pocket knife, flipping it open. “This was my dad’s,” she whispered before drawing the blade across her skin. No blood.

Lucifer took the knife from her. “Let me see something.” He drew the knife across his own skin. No blood. “What does that mean?” he whispered. “I should be bleeding.”

Chloe watched him closely. Panic was starting to creep into his eyes. “Lucifer?”

He drew the knife across his skin again. “Why am I not bleeding?” He brought the knife point to the inside of his arm and pushed. “What’s wrong with me?” He looked up and Chloe and brought his hand to the side of her face. His eyes locked onto hers and flickered from one eye to the next and back again. “It’s not that,” he said softly, bringing his forehead to hers, sighing in relief. “It’s not that.”

Chloe put one hand on the back of his head. “Not what?”

“Amenadiel thinks that we can control what happens to our own bodies,” he muttered, still holding his head against hers. “He thinks that I’m physically vulnerable around you because of how I feel about you. When I didn’t bleed, I worried that maybe I didn’t feel that way anymore.” He brought his other hand around her back and let out a gasping breath. “But I do.” He tightened his grip. “I don’t want to lose how I feel about you.”

She rested her head against his neck. “I don’t deserve you. I’m so sorry.”

Lucifer’s hand moved to scratch her back over her wings. Chloe melted further into his arms. “I don’t know what you deserve, but it brings me pleasure to comfort you.” Lucifer felt her uneven breath under his hands. He thought that she might be trying to keep from crying. “Are you okay, Chloe?” Chloe let out a breath. “Please don’t lie to me.”

“No, I’m not,” she said softly. “Are you okay, Lucifer?”

“No, I’m not.”

They clung together in silence, like the presence of the other was the only thing keeping them afloat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm, I wonder why Lucifer didn't bleed....


	4. Analyzed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe has an uncomfortable conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are a little rough right now for our duo, but it will get better, I promise. But I just don't have it in me to wave a magic wand and get everyone to their happy place. They need to work through this. I can't promise a happy fairy tale ending for part two of this story, but everyone will be healthier and stronger by the end of it. 
> 
> Writing therapy, even the informal type as presented in this chapter, is a bit outside of my experiance level. My bestie is a therapist, but she doesn't talk about her work much. Outside of her analyzing me for shits and giggles in her free time over drinks, I have almost no experiance with therapy from either end of it. If I screw it up, I'm sorry.

Lucifer had hoped that their moment of shared misery in the car meant that Chloe had turned a corner. Alas, it seemed like it was only a moment of weakness on the Detective’s part. She spent the rest of the car ride covered in figurative spines and gazing out the window. Lucifer’s attempts at small talk got him nowhere. And frankly, it was starting to bother him. While guilt and shame were something that were very familiar to him, he felt like Chloe was taking it to the next level. While she adamantly insisted that she wasn’t mad at him… repeatedly… she certainly acted like she was. There were moments when he could get through to her, and he could see how broken and upset she was, but, for the most part, she kept herself locked away in a shell.

Lucifer didn’t like it.

When they returned to the precinct, Chloe went to bury herself in paperwork, and Lucifer took that as a hint that he wasn’t wanted around anymore. He walked into Ella’s lab and perched himself near the window overlooking the Detective’s desk.

“Sure, come on in. Make yourself comfortable,” Ella said, removing her ear buds.

Lucifer started and turned towards the bubbly scientist. “Forgive me, Ms. Lopez. I feel the Detective needed a bit of space.”

“No worries. This gives me a chance to grill you,” she said with a sly grin.

“Grill me?”

“You never told me how the date went.”

“Date?” Lucifer asked, confused. Then he remembered. Grilled cheese with a side of poison. It felt like it had happened 100 years ago. “Ah, yes. Well, it didn’t exactly go as planned.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have called Chloe about the case. Did I mess it up?”

“No, Ms. Lopez. It wasn’t that.”

“Your fault or her fault?”

_ Her fault,  _ Lucifer thought. But he really was trying to get past that. “We had some… issues to sort through. They came up. It was unpleasant.”

“It must not be that bad. Don’t look, but she’s been staring at you the entire time you’ve been in here.” Lucifer immediately got up to turn around. Ella grabbed his arm. “I said don’t look!”

Lucifer straightened his suit, raised his chin and sat back down. “Does she look mad?”

Ella took a quick glance in Chloe’s direction out of the corner of her eye. “No,” she said thoughtfully. “If I were to put one word to it, it would be ‘longing.’ What’s the deal with you two anyway? I thought for sure once she ditched Pierce, it was only a matter of time before the two of you hooked up. Then she runs off to Europe. Was she mad about the whole ‘dead lieutenant’ thing?”

“It wasn’t that.”

“Why did she leave?”

“She needed her space,” Lucifer said, a note of bitterness in his voice.

“And things have just been weird since she came back. And today, I don’t know. She did something different. She looks amazing. Did Chloe do that for you?”

Lucifer gave an enigmatic shrug.

“But now she’s giving you the cold shoulder?”

Maybe Ms. Lopez could help. She was, after all, a human female. And, until yesterday, the Detective had been a human female. “Have you ever made a very large mistake? Something that makes you feel terrible?”

Ella thought for a minute before responding. “I suppose so, yes.”

“And you regretted it later?”

“Yeah. Yes, I have. What happened?”

Lucifer brushed her off. “It doesn’t matter. Was your mistake directed at a person? Did you wrong someone in some way?”

Ella’s normally cheery expression turned dark. “I stole my best friend’s boyfriend in high school.”

“What happened after that?”

“I regretted it almost at once. I apologized to Stacy, and she said we were cool, but we weren’t. I think she was still mad at me, and I felt guilty every time I looked at her. We stopped hanging out after that.”

“Why did you feel guilty being around her even after she said you were,” Lucifer held up his fingers and made air quotes, “cool?”

Ella sighed. “Every time I looked at her, I remembered how her face looked when I told her what happened. How much I hurt her. I couldn’t get it out of my head. We kinda tried to work it out a few years later, but there was just too much hurt there.”

“Yours or hers?”

“Mine, mostly. It just poisoned everything. I apologized again, but Stacy said that she didn’t care. That Steve, the boyfriend, wasn’t worth losing a friend.”

"But you couldn't let it go?"

Ella shook her head.

“If you could go back and change it, what would you do?”

Ella looked at him like he was dense. “I wouldn’t steal her boyfriend.”

“Yes, but after that.”

Ella puffed up her cheeks and blew out a big puff of air. “I don’t know. I supposed I would have tried to find a way to get out of my own head. I wish we had just hashed it all out then and there, gotten it off our chests, and then maybe we could have moved on.”

Lucifer grinned at Ella. “Thank you Ms. Lopez, you’ve been a great help.” He sprang from his seat and bounded out of the lab, his phone already in his hand.

When he got to the parking lot, he raised his phone to his ear and said, “Doctor Martin, I need your help.”

*****

That evening, Chloe opened the door to her apartment, expecting to find Trixie and the babysitter. Instead, she found Trixie, a demon and a therapist making a mess of her kitchen.

She did not have the emotional energy to deal with this shit right now. Chloe gave herself 2 seconds of a pity party before she put her mom face on. “Trixie! Hey, Monkey! How was school?”

“Good!” Trixie darted from the kitchen, jumping up into Chloe’s arms, giving her a flour coated hug. “We’re making you a cake for dessert!”

“Chocolate?”

Trixie pulled back and shot her mom a look that said,  _ Duh! _

“Me and Maze are going to go pick up dinner from that Italian place you like, and we’re going to have chocolate cake for dessert!”

“Maze and I…” Chloe corrected, automatically.

Trixie rolled her eyes and hopped down. “Come help! We’re almost ready to put it in the oven!” Chloe let Trixie drag her into the kitchen.

Behind Trixie’s back, she shot both Linda and Maze the stink eye. She had a pretty good idea what this was all about. 

They spent the next ten minutes putting the finishing touches on the cake while Chloe put on a happy face for her daughter. Finally, Maze shooed Trixie out the door. She closed the door behind Trixie and whispered. “Let your damn wings out, Decker. I know they’re driving you nuts.” And with that, Maze walked out, slamming the door behind her.

Just the mention of her wings made the itch increase. Chloe scratched her back on the edge of the fridge.

“Which one of them put you up to this?” Chloe asked, glaring at the therapist.

“Maze called me this morning. I talked to Lucifer this afternoon. Lucifer told me that I am, under no circumstances, supposed to compliment you on your appearance.”

Chloe sighed. “It’s all I’ve heard all day. How pretty I look. But it’s all fake.”

“Why do you say that?”

Chloe opened her mouth, then shut it, glaring at Linda. “I see what you did there.”

“What?”

“You took the thing that Lucifer said was bothering me and used it to try and get me talking.”

Linda sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She was leery when both Lucifer and Maze pleaded with her to try and “fix” Chloe. Linda knew she’d be a terrible patient. She was even more stubborn than Lucifer, was remarkably self-reliant, and prided herself on such. Plus, she was smart enough to see through most therapy methods.

“Do you want to talk about why compliments are bothering you?”

“Not really.”

“Do you want to explain why you keep brushing Lucifer off when he tries to help you?”

“Nope.”

“Do you want to open up your wings and relieve the itch?”

Chloe avoided Linda’s gaze and scratched her back against the fridge. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“It’s not like I’ve never seen angel wings before, Chloe.” Chloe’s head jerked up and Linda realized how ridiculous that statement was. Both of them started laughing. “How is this my life?” Linda asked once the laughter died down.

“Tell me about it.” Chloe walked past her and opened the liquor cabinet. “Drink?”

“Sure,” Linda said, grabbing a glass from the dishwasher. Chloe poured her a glass of red and then poured one for herself.

“It really won’t bother you if I bring them out?” Chloe said, raising her glass in a toast.

“Nope. It won’t even rank in the top five list of the weirdest things that I’ve seen,” Linda said, clinking her glass against Chloe’s.

Chloe downed the glass in one gulp for courage. “Okay.” She walked back into the living room to give herself a bit of room and spread her wings, giving a moan of relief.

Linda started laughing again, although she quickly covered it up with a cough. 

“What?” Chloe said, feeling slightly insulted.

“Sorry,” Linda said, choking down another giggle. “Just something a patient said to me in a session. Can’t talk about it.”

“Was that patient Lucifer and was it about his newfound wing kink?”

Linda didn’t say anything. Chloe took that as a yes. She closed her eyes and just let herself enjoy the sensation of finally _ finally _ being able to stretch her wings out after keeping them in all day. After stretching them in several different directions, she sat down on the ottoman, folding her wings behind her, but still keeping them out.

Linda came and sat in a chair in front of her, crossing her ankles. “Does it feel strange?”

“Having wings?”

“Yeah.”

Chloe thought about it for a minute before answering. “Oddly enough, they’re pretty far down on the list of things bugging me right now. They itch when I have them in. It’s like a constant reminder that I’m not... human anymore. But having them out feels nice. It’s like taking your shoes off at the end of a long day.” Chloe brought one wing forward and idly ran her fingers through her feathers. “I think they’re pretty.”

“What about the rest of the physical changes?”

Chloe’s fingers stilled on her feathers. “Those I’m less comfortable with.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“I think the rest of my issues stem from fairly mundane human stuff.”

“I have human patients too, Chloe.”

Chloe looked at Linda and wondered if there was simply something about the therapist that made her want to spill all her baggage. Almost against her will, Chloe began to speak. “I never wanted to be an actress.”

“That’s a common feeling among child actors.”

Chloe nodded. “My mother wanted me to be one though. I always had to watch what I ate, I worked out constantly. I did my first commercial when I was 5, and ever since then, what I looked like mattered more than anything else. My body existed to make others happy, not me. Then I took my top off in a movie. And everyone has seen my breasts. I didn’t want to do it, but my mom kept going on about how this was my big break. And how I was so lucky to have that chance.”

“How old were you?”

“I was 18 when I was cast, 19 when the movie came out." Chloe paused, straightening a few feathers. "My dad died right after the premiere, and I decided to become a cop. I took the money from that stupid movie and paid for college, getting a degree in criminal justice. Some of my classmates had pictures of me in a bikini up in their dorm rooms while I was trying to keep off the freshman 15.”

“That couldn’t have been good for your ego.”

Chloe shook her head. “But it was easier after I got out of college. I graduated in three years and joined the LAPD. I stopped wearing makeup and almost always wore my hair up, so that I could look less like Chloe Decker from the movie. I married Dan, had Trixie, and made detective. The worst of it was behind me, but I still made an effort to…”

“To hide?”

“Yeah. No revealing clothing. Nothing to draw attention to myself. I never even wear short sleeves. And it worked. People stopped seeing me as some teenage crush, and started seeing me as Chloe. I wasn’t perfect anymore, and I was completely happy about it. Then I got a celestial makeover. Scars gone, wrinkles gone, stretch marks gone, and that stupid divine whatever that makes people suddenly fall all over themselves to tell me that I look pretty.”

“And Chloe disappears, and the pretty girl is all they see?”

Chloe nodded. “I hate it.” She leaned back and stretched her wings out again. “So, no. The wings don’t bother me much. But being attractive and noticed does.”

Linda gave her a little smile. “I treat a lot of celebrities, Chloe. I know you’ve been around that world for most of your life. What do celebrities look like when they’re away from the public eye?”

“They look like bums,” she said, a bit of a smile on her face. “Baggy clothes, no make up. Men grow their facial hair.”

“Exactly. What you feel is extraordinarily normal. Your image doesn’t belong to you, so it makes sense that you try to  _ not _ look perfect in order to regain your sense of self.”

“I normally have a pretty good grip on it, though. But suddenly being made physically perfect and apparently irresistible just brought all that baggage up from the back of my mind. Especially since I don’t  _ feel _ pretty right now.”

“Why is that?”

“Did Lucifer tell you about the priest?”

“Yes.”

“And what I did?”

“Yes.”

“That’s why I don’t want to look pretty.”

“Can you elaborate on that?” Chloe was silent for so long that Linda thought she probably wouldn’t answer. 

Finally, Chloe whispered, “I feel like a monster. I feel rotten, damaged.”

“Is that why you keep pushing Lucifer away?”

“I don’t deserve him.”

“Are you angry at him?” Silence. More silence. “Chloe?”

Chloe stood up suddenly. “Trixie is going to be back soon.” Chloe’s wings folded away. “I’m going to tell her the truth about all this on Friday night.”

“I think that’s a good idea.”

“Would you be willing to be here while I do it?”

“Of course. Why do you want me here though?”

“I figured she may want someone human.” Chloe looked lost, distant. 

“She’ll want her mother.” 

“I don’t think her mother exists anymore,” Chloe muttered under her breath. “Trixie’s mother never would have done the things that I’ve done.”

The doorknob jiggled then, and Maze stuck her head in, caught sight of a wingless Chloe, and opened the door wider, letting Trixie in.

Linda watched as Chloe’s sadness seemed to magically disappear. Chloe greated her daughter with a wide grin. “Whatever you two got smells delicious! Let’s eat!”

Linda thought the critics of Hot Tub High School were wrong. Chloe Decker was an excellent actress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is posted a day early because I was very productive last night and I wanted a treat for writing instead of sleeping :)


	5. Tired

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan makes breakfast. Lucifer struggles with color coordination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your comments! I absolutly love reading them. We're taking a bit of a turn in this chapter.

Chloe was a deep sleeper under the best of circumstances, but apparently dying, becoming an angel, and staying up for over 36 emotionally charged hours really took it out of her.

She woke up on her stomach with something tickling her bare arms. _ I never sleep on my stomach _ , Chloe thought. She went to roll over on her back to look at her clock, knowing that she overslept, but was stopped when something pulled at her back. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the edge of one sunset-colored wing. She pulled it in front of her and glared at it, like it was an unwelcome guest. “So, I guess it wasn't a dream,” she muttered, throwing herself back down on her stomach, groaning. Chloe folded her wings into her back and spent the next 30 seconds feeling absolutely miserable about herself until the smell of bacon hit her nose.

“Lucifer?” she said quietly. It wouldn’t be the first time that he’d broken into her house to cook for her. She hurriedly threw on some sweatpants and ran her fingers through her hair before dashing down the stairs to find…

...Dan putting some bacon and eggs on a plate and handing it to Trixie.

Huh?

“Good morning, Chloe. Breakfast?”

“Sure,” she said, walking into the kitchen. “What’s the occasion?”

“Trixie left Miss Alien at my house, and I stopped by to drop it off. You were still asleep.”

Chloe nodded and sat down at the bar next to Trixie. “Good morning, Monkey,” she said, leaning over to give her a hug. 

“Hey, Mom,” Trixie said around a mouthful of eggs. She looked at Chloe and stopped chewing. “What happened to your scar?” Trixie pointed past Chloe’s sleep tank to her bare shoulder.

Dan leaned across the kitchen counter. “Did it finally heal? That’s where you got shot three years ago, right?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said, leaning over to grab some bacon and eggs. “This is really good, Dan. Thanks for cooking.”

Trixie narrowed her eyes. “It was there a couple of days ago.”

Chloe shoved a bite of eggs in her mouth. Dan and Trixie were both staring at her. “Dan, there’s some Tabasco in the fridge. Can you grab it for me?”

Dan turned around and pulled the bottle of Tabasco out of the fridge. Chloe dumped a generous portion on her eggs. She took another bite and handed the Tabasco back to Dan. He put some on his own eggs. “Eat up, Trixie, you still have to get dressed for school.”

Trixie shoved a few more bites in her mouth. “Mom?”

“Yeah, Monkey?”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, baby.”

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I promise,” she leaned over and gave Trixie a kiss. “Now, go get ready. And don’t forget your homework.”

“Okay, Mom.” Trixie gave her a hug and hopped off the stool, stealing a piece of bacon from Chloe’s plate.

As soon as her daughter’s bedroom door closed, Dan rounded on her. “You’re not okay.”

Chloe rolled her eyes and got up, walking to the kitchen. She piled the last of the eggs from the skillet onto her plate and sat back down at the bar. “I’m fine, Dan.”

“You never have seconds because your mom made you insecure about your weight, your scars disappeared, and honestly? You look like you had botox.”

“I didn’t have botox.” _ This is what I get for having a child with a detective, _ she thought. Chloe chewed on her eggs, looking at Dan. She suddenly realized that she’d been living in some kind of fantasy world, thinking that the people closest to her wouldn’t figure out that something was going on. And, like it or not, Dan was going to be part of Chloe’s life for a long time. He’d find out eventually. It’s not like Chloe was getting any older. “What’s your day look like today?”

“Just catching up on some paperwork.”

“Why don’t you tag along with Lucifer and me? We need to go by SoberRide’s office, their accountant and their lawyer to pick up everything concerning the sale, then we’re going to go back to the precinct and go over a bunch of documents. We could use an extra hand. And I’d like to talk to you before I talk to Trixie tomorrow night.”

“Okay. Can you keep your partner in line?”

“No promises,” she said, stabbing another bite of egg onto her fork. “I’m picking up Lucifer at Lux, and then heading to work. I’ll meet you at the precinct?”

Dan nodded. “Are you safe?”

“I’m safe.”

“You sure?”

Chloe rolled her eyes, “Yes, Dan. I promise that I’m perfectly safe.”

“Okay. Go get dressed. I’ll make sure Trixie gets out the door on time.”

She placed a hand on his arm. “Thanks, Dan. It’ll all be okay.”

*****

The elevator opened, depositing Chloe into the penthouse at Lux. She heard the hairdryer running in the bathroom and walked in, knocking to announce her presence. Opening the door she found Lucifer, wearing nothing but silk boxers, beating his hair into submission. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Detective!” he said, cheerfully. “How did you sleep?”

“I slept like I died two days ago.”

“That good?”

Chloe nodded. “I think I needed it.” She sat down on the edge of Lucifer’s ridiculously large tub. As he played with his hair, Chloe could see how the skin over his shoulder blades pulled differently than a human's. If she looked closely, she could see a slight indentation where his wings hid.  _ Does my back look like that?  _ she wanted to ask. Instead, she said, “Why don’t you leave your hair curly? It looks cute.”

Lucifer scowled at her and pumped some product into his hand. “Because it’s cute.”

“Bad for your image? The Devil doesn’t do cute?”

“Makes me look angelic. There’s no hair care products in the Silver City.”

“Suddenly your departure makes so much more sense.”

Lucifer gave her half a smile. He was glad that the joking Detective was back. It was much improved over the moody Detective from the day before. “How did your visit with Linda go last night?”

“Oddly enough, we didn’t get into celestial baggage much. Mostly we talked about my strange body image issues.”

“You were a touch off about that yesterday. Care to explain why?”

“My mom made me crazy about how I looked. Having everyone falling all over themselves telling me that I’m pretty kinda brought it all back.”

“That would explain your wardrobe,” Lucifer said under his breath.

“I heard that,” Chloe said wryly.

“Detective, you were stunning coming out of that hot tub, you were stunning three days ago in the absolutely boring ensemble you wore to work, and you’re stunning today.”

Chloe sighed. “I wish you wouldn’t try to make me feel better.”

“Because it makes you feel bad?”

Chloe nodded.

“Maybe you should have started there with Linda. You’re being ridiculous.”

“I tried to poison you two days ago, Lucifer, and you’re here being  _ nice _ to me. It doesn’t make sense.”

“That reminds me,” he said, opening his medicine cabinet. He pulled something out and tossed it at Chloe.

It was Kinley’s vial.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

“The husband we interviewed made me think. He screwed up first by forgetting to check the driver’s ID. That set off a chain of events that led to her betraying his trust. He regretted his actions, as did she." He paused, running his fingers through his hair. "I deeply regret that I didn’t tell you that I was the Devil sooner. I should have told you when you started dating Pierce, so that you would have believed me when I said he was dangerous."

"Why didn't you tell me then?"

He peered at his reflection for so long that she thought he wasn't going to answer. Finally, he said, "I was afraid. I was so afraid of how you’d react that I was willing to let myself believe that Pierce had been changed by your affections as had I, so I let it slide. I should have known better. And you got hurt. After you found out the truth, in about the worst situation that I could possibly imagine, I should have reached out to you. I shouldn’t have just let you disappear without trying to explain myself first.”

Chloe took a ragged breath. “Why didn’t you call me?”

Lucifer took the straight iron and ran it through the curly locks above his eyes. “While you weren’t talking to me, I could imagine that you didn’t hate me. I could hope. But if I tried to contact you, and you refused to answer, or told me to leave you and your daughter alone, then I’d know.” Lucifer put another strand of hair into the straight iron. “Anyway, my mistakes led to your betrayal.”

“My stupidity led to my betrayal.”

“That too,” he said. “It hurts, Detective. It hurts that you would think that I would be a threat to you. You know me better than anyone.”

“I was angry at you,” she whispered. 

Lucifer turned an intense amount of concentration to his hair, removing the curl from several more sections. He unplugged the straight iron and picked a couple of bottles of product out of the lineup on his bathroom counter. “I would like it if we could get past this.”

“Me too.”

He massaged product after product into his hair, shaping it into perfect form with a comb. Then he reached for his eyeliner.

“You spend an absolutely insane amount of time getting ready in the morning.”

“You’re not the only one with hangups about your appearance, Detective.” He finished his eyeliner, and turned to her, a smirk on his face. “Besides, I’ll be escorting an angel around town. Must look my best.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. Lucifer grinned.

“How do your wings feel today, by the way?”

“They came out while I was asleep.”

“They do that sometimes.”

Chloe stood up and opened the vial, dumping the contents into the toilet. She flushed it away. It felt like a burden had lifted from her shoulders. “Dan was there when I woke up.”

“I’m sorry. Did he see anything that he shouldn’t?”

“I smelt breakfast cooking downstairs. I rushed down in my pajamas, thinking it was you.”

“Naughty.” Lucifer leered.

“Shut up. Anyway, my top left my shoulders bare.”

“Tell me more about your sleepwear, Detective.”

Chloe just shot him a glare. “Dan and Trixie both noticed that the scar on my shoulder was gone.”

“What did you say?”

“I deflected. I’d already planned on telling Trixie tomorrow night, but Dan is suspicious, and, well, there’s a reason he made detective. He knows something is up.”

“And you don’t want to lie to him?”

Chloe shook her head. “He and I have a child together. He’s going to be in my life for a long time, if I like it or not.”

“Do you want to tell him the truth?”

“Not really. I don’t want to deal with what I’m sure is going to be an epic meltdown. But if he knows, he can help with Trixie tomorrow night if…” Chloe paused, biting her lip.

“If what?”

“If she doesn’t want to be around me anymore.”

“I don’t think that will be an issue, but if you’d like Dan to know, I have no objections to it. Do you have any idea on how you’d like to do it?”

“You’re okay with this?”

Lucifer shrugged. “If I was really that concerned about people learning that I was the Devil, I would have put ‘John Smith’ on my driver’s license. Do you want me to be there when you tell him?”

“I don’t know. He’s going to be tagging along with us today. Maybe it will come up organically.”

“An angel is probably easier to stomach than the Devil.”

Chloe gave him a little grin. “You just don’t want to be there for the fallout.”

“I don’t like it when people I care about are afraid of me.”

Chloe squeezed his arm. “I’m not afraid anymore, Lucifer. You know that, right?”

Lucifer let a bit of red creep into his eyes. “Really?”

She arched an eyebrow and let her own eyes turn to red. “I’m way scarier than you are with your pretty, puffy white wings, eyeliner and Shirley Temple curls.”

“And, with that, I’m going to get dressed,” 

“Wait,” said Chloe, laughing as Lucifer walked into his massive closet, “did I just hear you say you cared about Dan?”

“I never said that, Detective!”

Lucifer rummaged around in his closet for a minute, emerging with two shirts. He held both of them up to Chloe, considered, scowled, and disappeared back into the depths of his closet.

"Are you trying to match me?"

"Yes. That pale yellow is hard to match. Honestly, that color does nothing for your skin."

"I know."

Lucifer came back out with a red shirt in one hand and an orange in the other. "Bring out your wings."

"Excuse me?"

"I want to see if one of these matches the red and the orange in your wings. That pale yellow is similar to the color at the base of your feathers."

"Why do you care if your outfit matches my wings that no one will see?"

"Daniel's seeing them today. I'd like to make a good first impression. Come on, Detective. Chop, chop."

Chloe rolled her eyes and manifested her wings. She managed to keep orgasm noises from leaving her throat at the relief of having them out, but, considering that Lucifer was staring, she was fairly sure her expression was still one of bliss.

"Lovely, Detective," he breathed in barely a whisper.

This brought a tiny smile to her face. She chose not to spend too much time analyzing why Lucifer's compliments bothered her less than other people's.

Lucifer cleared his throat and let a clinical expression come over his face as he approached her with the red and orange shirt. "Don't do red and black today," Chloe said.

"Too devilish?"

Chloe nodded. "What about that grey suit you have? That one looks good on you." 

"I have many different shades of grey suits. You're going to have to be more specific."

"The light grey one."

Lucifer shook his head. "No, that one looks good with cool tones, blacks, dark blues, purples. You're in yellow with a brown blazer. It won't work. I need something warmer. Plus it won't go well with your wings." He disappeared back into the depths of his closet and began rummaging again. 

Chloe pulled her left wing forward and started idly straightening feathers.

A few minutes later, Lucifer emerged triumphant with a tan suit, a midnight blue shirt and a matching vest.

"That seems a little out of character for you," Chloe said, her hands pausing on a feather.

"If Obama can pull off a tan suit, I can too," Lucifer grumbled. "Your wings are impossible to match. I'm going to have to invest in a whole new color palate."

"Bet you've never been so grateful for white wings, have you?" Chloe said, laughing.

"Certainly makes things easier," he said, pulling the shirt over his shoulders.

The absolute surrealism of the situation suddenly struck Chloe, and she burst out laughing. "I'm standing in a high end penthouse in the middle of Los Angeles discussing which suit the Devil should wear to match my angel wings. And, for some bizarre reason, it all feels normal." 

Lucifer's long pianist's fingers stilled over the bottom button of his shirt, he looked at her, lost for a minute, then shrugged. "It is normal. It just wasn't normal for you until recently."

Chloe stepped up to him, and buttoned the rest of his shirt buttons. "You're right," she gave a little smile and put one hand above his heart. "Thanks, Lucifer." 

"You're quite welcome, Detective." Lucifer wanted to hold her then. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and bury his fingers in the sunset of her wings.

_ She tried to poison me two days ago,  _ he thought suddenly. Nope. Still not over it, apparently. He sighed, taking a step back and reaching for his pants. "Well, let's go introduce poor Daniel to this new normal."

Chloe's wings sagged as a resigned expression crossed her face. "This isn't going to be fun."

"No, these conversations rarely are."

*****

Dan watched as Chloe came down the stairs to the precinct. Now that he decided that there was definitely something off about her, he started noticing other things that made her different from what she had been a few days ago.

Her expression was that careful one she carried when things were really bad, but she wanted desperately to hide it. And she was good, very good. But Dan had been married to her. He knew her tells by now. 

Chloe had never exactly been clumsy. In fact, her movements were typically graceful due to dance classes from her youth. However, she favored her left leg over her right. She'd injured her knee years back chasing a subject. The limp was minor, Dan doubted if she even noticed it anymore. Today the limp was gone. And her normally smooth movements seemed like liquid. 

Even though she was obviously under stress, every twitch of her fingers and step of her feet seemed to flow like water. It was enchanting.

None of her scars were present. No lines, no wrinkles, and there was just something…  _ other… _ about her now. Something extra. And he'd seen that before, he just couldn't quite place where.

The sun hit her as she turned on the landing to descend the final staircase. And, if Dan didn't know any better, he would swear that she glowed. Her golden hair framed her face in pure light, almost like a halo.

Chloe caught his eye then and smiled at him.

Dan wanted to fall down in worship.

What the fuck was  _ wrong _ with him??

He shook his head, breaking the spell.

"Morning, Dan."

Dan just stared at her.

"You okay?" Chloe frowned, concern etching it's way across her face.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. My mind was just wandering."

"Uh-huh," Chloe said. 

"Where's Lucifer?"

"Getting coffee."

Dan nodded. Then nodded again. Then realized that he looked like a bobble head doll. He shook his head and held up the papers in his hand. "I grabbed the case files, so we should have everything we need. Three stops and then back here to dig through paperwork?"

"That's it. Let's head back to the garage. We can catch Lucifer on his way in."

"K, just let me grab a few things. I'm right behind you."

Chloe nodded and smiled, heading back up the stairs. As she hit the landing, the sun shone on her again, giving her that otherworldly glow.

And then Lucifer joined her on the landing.

Dan's eyes widened. That was where he'd seen it before. That grace, that something  _ other.  _

Then the idiot opened his mouth. "Douche! The Detective says you're joining us today! Are you bringing pudding?"

Chloe smacked his arm and muttered something to him. He pouted back, saying something under his breath. Chloe glared at him, and finally he turned to Dan, walking down the last few steps and handing him a cup of coffee. "The Detective tells me that I have to be nice to you today." Dan just stood there, his eyes flickering between Lucifer and Chloe. 

Lucifer raised the coffee cup and shook it in Dan's face, looking impatient. Dan took the cup from Lucifer and muttered, "Thanks."

Chloe still stood at the top of the stairs, arms crossed, glaring down at them. "Are you two done being weird?"

_ "Mierda," _ Dan whispered under his breath, following his ex-wife out of the precinct.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think putting Tabasco on eggs might be something that is only done regionally. I have no idea what people put on their eggs in Southern California, but they should put Tabasco on their eggs. Everyone should. It's the best. Cholula is also acceptable.


	6. Normalized

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan hangs out with Lucifer and Chloe. They get a break in the case.

That was the first time that Dan cursed in Spanish that day. It wouldn't be the last. Dan's Spanish wasn't much better than Chloe's, but he had an army of cousins that taught him the juicy bits of the language. Unlike Ella, who would drop into full-on Spanish rants when she got upset, Dan mostly stuck to swearing.

After his third or fourth muttered swear in Spanish, though, Lucifer seemed to take it as permission to switch from English to Spanish. Dan looked lost, which only seemed to wind Lucifer up. But, somewhere in the middle of Lucifer's monologue, Chloe realized that she could understand what he was saying perfectly. 

"Stop messing with him," she muttered under her breath in perfect Spanish.

He had been wondering if she'd start developing more angelic powers. The language thing seemed to have kicked in, but, as of yet, Chloe hadn't shown any strength, speed, or senses that were over and beyond that of a normal human.

Either Chloe was playing it extremely close to the chest, or those powers weren't there. Lucifer didn't know if they'd show up eventually or not, but the fact that angelic linguistic abilities just hopped on line made it look like other powers may be there, waiting to appear. This pleased Lucifer. He liked the idea of them being on relatively equal footing.

It seemed like spending most of the morning with the Douche may have been exactly what they needed. With Dan around, all deep conversations were off the table… for now… which allowed all three of them to just be themselves.

Chloe had a twinkle in her eye as she discussed Trixie's latest misadventure with Dan, Lucifer engaged in a bit of good natured ribbing of the Douche, which earned him a glare from Chloe and a chuckle from Dan. That seemed to soften Chloe's glare until it morphed into a little smile as she stared at the road ahead.

Dan, meanwhile, kept shooting glances at Chloe and Lucifer when he thought they weren't looking. Lucifer caught several, and he was sure that Chloe caught more. The Detective was right. It would be almost impossible to keep Dan in the dark.

The most spectacular part about the whole morning, though, was just how easy and normal it was. Lucifer found himself laughing more than he had since the day Chloe had seen the Devil standing over Pierce's body. The day was filled with the kind of interactions that Lucifer craved. Not a sexual bond with a stranger, not a deal, and not the manipulative relationship that he shared with most of his family. Just wonderful, blissful companionship.

The three of them stopped for lunch after dropping by the SoberRide office and the lawyers. A veritable cornucopia of street tacos sat in the middle of the picnic table for them to plow through as they started reading through the documents they'd received from the sale. Lucifer's voracious appetite was expected, but, surprisingly, Chloe knocked back six tacos and a decent part of the ceviche. With real soda. 

"Hungry today, Chloe?" Dan asked.

"Mmmm," she hummed around a mouthful of taco. "Have you tried the al pastor? It's amazing." 

Lucifer was watching her eat, his face glowing with joy.

What was going on with these two?

Chloe shoved the last of the taco in her mouth and pointed to a document in front of her. "Look at this," she said. "It's an incident report from last week." She wiped the remnants of the taco off her fingers and picked up the document. "Harry Carlton. Kent's father. Came into the office on Friday, screamed at Kassie and left."

"What was the fight about?" Lucifer asked, sipping on his soda.

"The receptionist was the one who wrote the incident report. All she wrote in there was that it was about Justin."

"Justin is…" Dan asked.

"Kent's brother. He was hit and killed by a drunk driver. He's the reason Kent and Kassie started SoberRide."

"Why would Harry Carlton be shouting at Kassie about his son that's been dead for years?"

"I don't know, but we should go find out."

*****

Harry Carlton wasn't at his home or his office. Chloe put a BOLO out on him and they went to their last stop: SoberRide's accountant. Turns out the accountant, a thick necked jerk named Gabe Morris, who honestly didn't look like he was bright enough to be an accountant, was the long time best friend of Harry Carlton's, and he was _not_ a fan of Kassie. "She betrayed that entire family. Kent, Harry _and_ Justin."

"How so?" Chloe asked.

"By forging Kent's signature! Now this company who is taking over will turn this into a money making venture. Charging for rides defeats the purpose of the whole company. It's like Justin died in vain."

Lucifer broke in, "What about what Kent did? Not keeping up with the records of their drivers? Isn't that what got them into this mess in the first place? Wasn't Kassie just attempting to continue the business in whatever way she could?"

"That was in the past. It doesn't matter anymore. What matters is what that _bitch_ did now."

Chloe looked down at her hands. Lucifer could feel the guilt rolling off of her. He put a hand on her back. Chloe flinched, Lucifer scratched her back over her wings..

Dan cleared his throat to pull those two out of whatever drama was weighing on their minds. "Do you have an alibi?"

"I got back from visiting family in Toronto yesterday. Want my flight number?"

Chloe jotted down the information. Dan and Lucifer started heading out the door, but something seemed to snap inside of Chloe. Yeah, Kassie fucked up. Bad. But she deserved to maybe serve a little time in a minimum security prison at the absolute most. Maybe she deserved a divorce. But she didn't deserve to die for what she did. Chloe turned back towards Morris, rose to her full height and said, "No matter how you feel about Kassie Carlton, what she did didn't warrant the death penalty. You can be glad she's dead. Fine. I bet she felt horrible about what she did too. But she deserved a chance to try and make it right. She didn't deserve to die. And it's _my_ job to figure out who took vengeance into their own hands and played judge, jury and executioner. So, before we go, can you tell me _anything_ that can help me bring her killer to justice."

Gabe stood, crossing his thick arms. "The bitch. Deserved. To die." 

"Obstruction of Justice can get you up to 5 years in prison, Mr. Morris." Chloe locked eyes with the creep, holding him tight in her gaze. "I need to find who did this, Mr. Morris. Tell me what you know."

Morris' eyes glazed over and his jaw slackened. "I don't know for sure, but I'd bet anything that Harry did it. There's blood on Justin's baseball bat." Chloe blinked, releasing him from her gaze. She looked shocked. Lucifer put a hand on her arm, pulling her back.

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Morris. Have an excellent afternoon." He pulled on Chloe's arm again. She let Lucifer pull her from the office. When they got outside, Lucifer turned to Chloe, with a huge grin on his face.

"That was amazing, Detective!"

"I know! Is that what it's like for you?"

"It's a rush, isn't it?"

"It was _awesome!"_

Dan cleared his throat again. "Care to tell me what just happened?"

Lucifer and Chloe jerked towards Dan, twin looks of shock in their eyes.

Chloe decided to take a page out of Lucifer's book. "Two days ago, I died and God turned me into an angel."

Dan rolled his eyes. "Let's go back to Harry Carlton's house and see if we can find that baseball bat."

*****

Warrant in hand, the three of them returned to Harry Carlton's house. It was a large three bedroom ranch. Pictures of Justin decorated every available surface. There were a handful of pictures of Justin and Kent together. There was none of Kent by himself. One of the bedrooms was kept as a shrine to his dead son. Justin had died at the age of 20, but it looked like the room hadn't been touched since Justin was a teenager. Baseball trophies lined the shelves, and the obligatory pictures of nearly nude women decorated the wall including…

"Hey Chloe, you had a fan," Dan said. Chloe took one look at a 24x36 poster showing her at age 19, dripping wet, in a bikini and turned to the mirror mounted next to the picture.

She took a shallow breath in through her teeth as she compared the sensual teenaged version of herself to the image she now saw in the mirror. Chloe was afraid to admit that the reflected version of herself in a frumpy yellow blouse and a tight ponytail was more attractive than the airbrushed picture of her in a bikini. 

Chloe recovered quickly, though. She rolled her eyes as her stomach dropped. "Just ignore it." As she walked past Lucifer, he gave her shoulder a small squeeze and gave her back a quick scratch. She smiled at him then opened the bedroom closet, braced to find more images of herself. 

But what she found was worse.

Buried beneath several boxes was a trash bag, and inside that trashbag was…

… a bloody baseball bat.

"We need to get this back to Ella."

*****

Two hours later, Ella confirmed that the bat was the one that killed Kassie. Dan, Lucifer and Chloe were camped out in the conference room, going over traffic cameras, trying to track down their missing murderer.

As it had the day before, the itch in Chloe's back from her hidden wings got worse as the day progressed. Lucifer sat next to Chloe and gave her a scratch every time she shuffled uncomfortably in her seat.

"What's wrong with your back?"

Chloe's mouth pressed into a thin line. "I'll tell you tonight," she said.

At the same time, Lucifer said, "Her wings itch."

Dan threw his pen down. "Okay, you've got to stop with the metaphors. Trixie's buying into them now! It's starting to mess with my kid."

"They're not metaphors," Lucifer sighed.

"Did Trixie say something to you this morning, Dan?"

Dan tapped his fingers on the table, debating on if he was going to repeat the crazy things his daughter had said to him. "She thinks you're an angel."

"Your spawn is incredibly intelligent, Detective," Lucifer said.

Chloe shushed him and turned to Dan. "Why?" 

Dan shrugged. "Probably because all the devil stuff that Lucifer's constantly going on about messed her up."

"How did she feel about it?" Chloe said, a hint of quiet desperation in her voice.

 _This is getting weird,_ Dan thought. "She seemed happy, I guess? She said that meant that you'd always be able to take care of Lucifer."

Chloe looked at Lucifer, tears peeking out of the corner of her eyes. "I told you she'd be okay, Detective," Lucifer said. She smiled at him. 

And it looked like she glowed again. 

Dan stood, slamming his hands on the table, and pulling Chloe and Lucifer from their moment.

"You're freaking me out. You need to explain this. Now."

Chloe sighed. "The storeroom in the basement should be big enough. Only one exit. The door locks," she said to Lucifer.

"Cameras?" Lucifer asked.

Chloe shook her head. 

Dan's eyes reached the size of saucers. "Should I be worried?"

Chloe stood up and put a hand on his arm. "No. Everything will be fine. It's just going to be… weird for a bit. Come on." She pulled him out of the room, then noticed that Lucifer was still sitting at the conference table. "You're not getting out of this," she glared at him. 

"You're not as scary as me."

Chloe glared at him. "Wanna see how scary I can be?"

"....no." 

She raised one eyebrow.

Lucifer sighed, resigned to his fate, and followed after the two detectives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first post-quarantine meal consisted of tacos al pastor and ceviche from a run down food truck that only takes cash and quite possibly makes the best food in the city. Like, Chloe, I happily ate six street tacos. 
> 
> Dan's day is about to get very, very weird...


	7. Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan didn't expect his day to go like this when he woke up this morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was a productive writer last night! So this chapter comes out a day early! Chapter count bumped up to 14. Considering this is the first time I've had to bounce it up during the writing of this story, I'm feeling fairly good about myself for sticking to my outline.

Chloe walked into the basement storeroom first. It was a large room. Boxes of old files, broken desks, and old uniforms laid in a mountain of junk along the back edge of the room, but a large area in the front of the room was clear. The ceiling was low. She’d be able to stretch her wings out to the sides, but raising them above her head was out. A musty old couch sat along one wall. “Dan?” she said. “Want to have a seat?”

Dan glared at her as he marched over to the couch. Lucifer went to lean against the far wall, deliberately keeping Chloe between himself and Dan.

Chloe rubbed her hands together. She paused when she noticed her scar-free hand.

Was she making a rash decision? Maybe. But it was too late now.

Dan was beginning to wonder if Chloe suddenly lost her nerve. “Chloe, are you okay?” Dan asked quietly.

Chloe nodded. “Yeah.”

“You’re different.”

“Yeah.”

“What changed?”

Chloe glanced behind her shoulder at Lucifer. He nodded at her. Taking a deep breath, she ssid, “Two days ago, I died and God turned me into an angel.”

Dan rolled his eyes and put his head in his palms. “Come on, Chloe, get serious. Next you’re going to tell me that Lucifer is _really_ the Devil.”

“I am,” Lucifer said. 

“He is,” Chloe said. “And, I am serious.”

Dan looked up, his eyes flickering between Lucifer and Chloe. “Am I being punked?”

“No.”

“Is Lucifer part of some creepy cult and he got you to join?”

“No.”

“Then give me something rational, because I haven’t believed in the Devil or angels since I was a teenager! Come on, Chloe, you’re an atheist.”

“I used to be an atheist.”

“Stop being stupid!”

Chloe rolled her eyes and manifested her wings. Sunset colored curtains of feathers spread out to either side of her, looking huge in the small space. Even under the dingy fluorescent light, they seemed to glow. “Two days ago, I died and God turned me into an angel.”

Dan froze. He didn’t blink. Lucifer tried very hard to make himself as small as possible against the back wall. Chloe counted to 100 in her head before finally cocking her head to the side and whispering, “Dan?”

Dan still didn’t move. 

Chloe turned and looked past her wings to Lucifer, “Did I break him?”

“Give him a minute, Detective.”

Dan’s eyes shifted to the Devil. Lucifer saw shock start to fade away and panic begin to set in. “Daniel,” he said softly, “When I showed Charlotte my wings, Amenadiel worried that I broke her. But I didn’t. She was strong enough. So are you.”

Dan’s jaw worked, “Charlotte?” He whispered.

Lucifer nodded. “She really did take a trip to Hell. After she returned, Amenadiel and I helped to make sure that she wouldn’t go back. Amenadiel flew her to Heaven himself.”

“She was so scared,” Daniel whispered.

Lucifer nodded. “But she’s safe now.”

“Oh,” Dan said, stupidly. His eyes switched from Lucifer to Chloe. “Are you safe?”

Chloe glanced at her wings, giving them a little stretch. “Well, my life has certainly gotten strange.” Chloe gave a little scoff. “I talked to my dead father in Heaven a couple of days ago. This is not normal stuff. But, yeah, I’m safe.”

Dan nodded. “Huh. How’s your dad?” His voice took on a strange monotone.

“Okay.”

“Did you...” he swallowed and stopped.

“We didn’t see Charlotte. We were a bit busy.”

“But you could if you wanted to?”

Chloe glanced at Lucifer again, a question in her eyes. “She could,” he said. Dan’s eyes darted back to Lucifer, and his panic levels started to rise again. “I can’t.”

“But I’m not in any hurry to go back to Heaven,” Chloe said quickly, trying to distract Dan from the Devil. “God let me come back to raise Trixie, and that’s what I intend to do.”

“Trixie was right," he said, nodding. "You’re going to tell her?” Dan asked.

Chloe nodded. “Tomorrow night. I figured it would be best if she had the weekend to recover before going back to school.”

“Good idea,” Dan said, his voice returning to the monotone, his eyes going distant.

Suddenly his eyes shot back to Chloe, growing to the size of saucers. “Trixie’s with a demon! Right now!” Chloe took a step towards him. Dan flinched. Chloe felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. She backed away a step, her hands in the air.

“Dan, it’s okay. There is literally no one on the planet that can protect Trixie as well as Maze can. Maze loves her. The only thing we have to worry about is Maze showing our 9 year old how to throw knives.”

“That’s my daughter you're talking about! With a demon!”

“It’s my daughter too!" Chloe cut in, feeling her anger rise. She took a deep breath in to calm herself. Of course Dan would be scared. She'd been terrified. "Dan, do you think that I’d put Trixie in danger?” Chloe’s wings still puffed up in irritation though.

Dan sunk further back into the couch. Chloe took a deep breath, then another. “Dan, you don’t have to trust Maze, but trust me. I would never do anything that endangered Trixie.” 

“What about the Devil?”

“The pudding thief?” Chloe gave a little laugh. “Don’t worry about him.”

If Lucifer were wearing pearls, he’d be clutching them. Dan gave a panicked little giggle at his shocked expression. “Why is the King of Hell hanging out at a police precinct stealing pudding anyway?”

Lucifer straightened his back and his cufflinks, trying to regain some dignity. “I’m on vacation.”

Dan watched as Chloe turned to him, took in his puffed up and offended expression and gave a small fond smile. Yeah, his ex-wife was in love with the Devil. _This is seriously fucked up,_ he thought.

"Working here is a vacation?" Dan asked.

"Certainly beats my day job."

Dan shook his head in disbelief and pointed to Lucifer. “Satan?”

Lucifer rolled his eyes and pointed at Dan. “Douche.” He pointed at Chloe. “Detective."

"They're just words, Dan. They're not that important."

"Pretty sure Satan is important."

Chloe saw Lucifer begin to puff up, probably to say something cocky that wouldn't help the situation, she put a hand on his arm to make him stand down. "It's a job title, Dan. Just like we're cops, Lucifer's the Devil. And just like some people think cops are bad, some people think the Devil's bad."

"So you're saying that Satan is just a fluffy little bunny? Come on, Chloe. I didn't think he was sweet and harmless before you sprouted wings. I certainly don't think so now."

"Who said I was sweet and harmless?" Lucifer smirked.

Chloe was about to step in and stop what looked like it was about to devolve into another Dan/Lucifer pissy fight when her phone rang. “Detective Decker,” she said, shooting a warning glance to both Dan and Lucifer. “Okay, where is he now?” She saw Lucifer and Dan glaring daggers at the other and brought a wing up between them. Both men broke apart, looking disgruntled. “Thank you. We’ll be right there. 5 minutes.” Chloe turned off her phone. “They found Harry Carlton. He’s in interrogation.”

“Wonderful. You patch up the Douche, I’ll get started on Harry.” Lucifer walked out of the room.

Chloe put her phone in her pocket. “I’d better go babysit my partner.”

“You can babysit the Devil?”

“I can babysit my emotionally immature, occasionally hot-tempered, but generally good natured partner who only has a vague understanding of what constitutes normal human behavior.”

Dan blinked a few times. “Huh. Suddenly he makes a lot more sense.”

Chloe gave a little chuckle. “He’s easier to understand when you realize that he’s been on Earth for less time than Trixie’s been alive.”

“So, when he spent several days following me around and dressing like me, he wasn’t trying to wind me up?”

Chloe shook her head. “Nope. Amenadiel does the same sort of thing, but he’s generally less obnoxious about it.”

Dan laughed at that. “He does do that, doesn’t he?” 

Chloe gave a little murmur of agreement and pulled in her wings. 

Dan’s jaw dropped again. “How’d you do that?”

Chloe sheepishly grinned at him. “As soon as I understand it, I’ll let you know. Lucifer told me to ask Amenadiel. I don’t think Lucifer understands how it works either. I’d better…” she pointed vaguely towards the door. “Do you need a minute?”

Dan nodded.

“We’ll be in Room 1 whenever you’re ready.” Chloe headed towards the door. She paused before walking through. "Dan?"

"Yeah?" 

"Nothing changes, you know. Not really. I'm still me. And the most important thing is keeping Trixie safe and happy. Agreed?"

"She's not in danger?"

Chloe gave him a small smile. "She's got two cops for parents, a demon babysitter, the Devil would do anything to protect her, and her mother recently got angel wings. Trixie might be the safest kid on the planet." She waited until the panic started to fade from his eyes before she said, "I'm going to make sure Lucifer doesn't do anything dumb."

"Okay."

*****

Daniel Espinosa wasn't a stupid man, but he has been told he lacked creativity and empathy. He wasn't particularly skilled in understanding other people's motivations unless their life experiences and world views were similar to his own. He had no problem understanding the motivations of someone who was working in their own self-interests, but altruism was something he had a hard time imagining. The mess with Palmetto Street had brought this particular character flaw to light. This was why he chose improv as an outlet: to learn to see things in a new way.

He was improving, he really was. But now, he was faced with absolutely crazy shit that he couldn't even imagine. He'd seen Chloe's wings himself, but he still had a hard time believing it was true.

The devil thing had to be bullshit, though. Lucifer was just too… _Lucifer_ to be, well, LUCIFER.

Chloe. Had. Wings. Did Trixie have wings? How did Chloe get wings? She said she died? How?

Lack of imagination didn't mean stupid. Daniel was not stupid. He had a lot of questions. Number 1 was, "Is Trixie safe?"

Chloe said Trixie was safe. Can Chloe be trusted? If Lucifer really is _the Devil,_ which still sounds insane, and Maze was on his side, was Chloe a good angel or a bad angel? Were there bad angels? 

She said that _God_ had made her an angel. Why?

Dan needed answers. He needed to know Trixie was safe. He needed to keep Trixie safe. 

He should go get Trixie. Would Maze let him leave with her? No, that was no good. He had to play it cool. Learn more, and when the time was right, he could take Trixie, and….

Could he run from them? If he took Trixie, would they ever stop chasing him? And what would they do when they caught him?

Dan thought back to the suspects left crying and huddled in the corner after Lucifer was done with them.

Maybe he really was the Devil.

Would he do that to Dan if he took Trixie? Would Chloe let him? 

Play it cool. Learn more. Make a plan. Maybe go back to church. 

Pray about it? Well, his abuela was right, God was real. Was God on his side? Not on Lucifer’s, surely… if he was really the Devil… which Dan still couldn’t quite believe. 

But God gave Chloe wings. And Chloe is shooting Lucifer lovey eyes. But aren’t God and the Devil supposed to be enemies?

“Fuck,” he whispered under his breath. “Don’t think about it. Do your job. Play it cool.” 

The walk from the storeroom to the interrogation room seemed to take forever and no time at all. Dan walked into the observation room to see the Devil and an angel talking to Harry Carlton.

“We have your son’s baseball bat, Mr. Carlton. Kassie’s blood is on the bat. Splinters from the bat were found on Kassie’s body. We just need to know why,” Chloe asked.

Carlton crossed his arms. “Maybe Kent took the bat from my house.”

Chloe flipped open the folder in front of her. “Highly unlikely. Kent stands, what? 5’5”? If you look at the patterns of the blows, they clearly came from someone who towered over Kassie. Someone with a lot of upper body strength. Someone at least 6’ tall according to forensics.”

Carlton shrugged. “Maybe Kent hired a hitman.”

“Mr. Carlton,” Lucifer leaned in, his voice sleek, his movements like a tiger about to strike. “Why do you have so many pictures in your home of Justin and almost none of Kent?”

Carlton glared at Lucifer.

“Justin was a baseball player, correct? Just like you. You played in the minor league.” Chloe asked. “Justin was on a full ride to UCLA when that drunk driver hit him and killed him. Kent wasn’t terribly athletic, though, was he?”

“He is soft, like his mother.”

“Your wife left after Justin’s death?”

Carlton nodded. “She kept up with Kent a bit, but she didn’t want anything to do with me.”

“Tell us about SoberRide.”

Carlton leaned back and sighed. “I had the idea. Kent married someone bright enough to pull it off. Then she went and took it away from us. Kent fucked up, though. That must be why he killed her.”

“I don’t follow,” Lucifer said.

“Sure. Simple. Kent fucked up. Kassie fucked up. Kent covered his own guilt by striking out at her. Of course, what she did was much worse. She destroyed the last thing we had of Justin.”

“Did it make you feel like Kassie killed Justin all over again?” Chloe asked, softly, gently.

Carlton’s eyes leapt up to hers. “I want my lawyer.” Chloe closed the folder and walked from the room, dragging Lucifer behind her.

The door to the observation room opened and shut. Dan suddenly realized that he was in a small, dark, enclosed space with two celestial beings. Or maybe one celestial being and one nutcase pudding thief...

“He did it,” Lucifer said.

“He totally did it,” Chloe agreed. “But why was he so desperate to throw Kent under the bus?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Detective? He despises Kent. Always has. He must have been a little too smart and artsy for big beefy daddy. He blames Kent for SoberRide’s fall as much as he blamed Kassie. Probably the only reason Kent still has a pulse is because he couldn’t bring himself to kill his own son.”

“So, Carlton loses the son he loves…”

“...gets stuck with the son he hates…”

“...son comes up with a good idea getting him back in Daddy’s good graces…”

“...then the son gets SoberRide into legal trouble…”

“...Kassie sells the company…”

“...and out of a misplaced sense of vengeance, Carlton kills Kassie, and tries to pin it on Kent.”

Chloe gave him a little smile. “And here I thought your family was screwed up.”

“Oh, we bring revenge and grudges to a truly Biblical level,” Lucifer smirked at her.

Dan gave a little squeak at that. Chloe and Lucifer both jerked, having forgotten that Dan was in the room.

“Sorry, Dan,” Chloe said.

The three of them stood around awkwardly staring at each other for a solid minute before Dan gave a little cough. “I, um, I’m going to ask Ella about what she found at the scene. See if there’s anything else that might help.”

“Good idea,” Chloe nodded. Dan made a beeline for the door. “Hey, Dan?”

Dan felt his pulse pounding in his ears as he held the doorknob in a death grip. He wanted to get away. “Yeah, Chloe?”

“Do you want to come over for dinner tonight? That way you can check on Trixie yourself. It might make you feel better.”

“Just the three of us?”

Lucifer and Chloe exchanged a non-verbal communication that ended with Lucifer saying to Dan, “Of course. I could use Maze’s help this evening with some of Lux’s books.”

“Okay,” Dan said quietly. “7:30?”

“Sounds good,” Chloe said. Dan practically ran out of the room

Chloe sagged against the wall and looked up to Lucifer. “What do you think about Dan?”

He shrugged and turned a pointed expression towards Chloe, “It could have gone worse. He could have run to Rome and come back with a vial of poison.”

Chloe took a shuddering breath in. Then another. She wanted to bite back at Lucifer. But she really didn’t have the right to do it. She needed to control her anger.

“It could have been worse,” she said, walking out of the room, not giving a second glance to her partner.

*****

An hour later, Lucifer was pacing the floor of Linda's office. "I'm torn, Doctor."

"How so?"

"I am so angry with her, but I'm falling all over myself to keep her happy."

Linda privately thought that this showed an amazing amount of growth on Lucifer's part. Chloe had probably hurt him more than anyone had since his fall, but here he was, trying to make things better.

"I said something to her, Doctor, something that felt very good at the time, but now I feel terrible about it. We let Daniel into the celestial inside club."

Linda was very proud of herself for not facepalming. More drama and high emotions was the absolute last thing these two needed right now. She made a mental note to reach out to Dan and offer therapy. She'd put it on Lucifer's tab. "How did he take it?"

"About as well as to be expected. He's having dinner with the Detective and her spawn tonight. After we finished blowing Daniel's mind, the Detective and I were alone. I said something along the lines of 'At least he didn't run off to Rome.'"

Linda sighed. "What did Chloe do?"

"That's the worst part. It felt good to say that to her, but the second the words left my mouth, I regretted it. I expected her to lay into me. The Detective is a fighter after all. But she just stiffened and walked out. I know I made her angry, but she didn't fight me on it. Why didn't she fight me? Did I break her?"

 _Maybe_ , was the honest answer. But that wouldn't help either of them heal. "How do you think Chloe feels about the whole mess with Kinley?"

"Terrible, as she should."

"Do you feel like you need to punish her for what she did?"

Lucifer adjusted his cufflinks. "I'm torn, Doctor. My father gave her a rather harsh punishment already. It feels like I shouldn't be punishing her because what he did was so harsh. Now I mostly feel like I should be picking up the pieces instead of adding onto it."

"But you still wish to punish her?"

"Yes."

"And you also want to help her?"

Lucifer sighed, "Yes."

"Which do you want more?"

Lucifer settled down on the couch and fidgeted for a solid minute before replying, "I don't know. Punishment is easy. I'm good at it."

"Forgiveness is harder?"

Lucifer nodded. "I don't want to lose her, Doctor. When I'm with her, I feel myself wanting to hold her and keep her safe."

"But you're still angry?"

"Yes."

"Holding that anger in is only going to make you burst out at her at stressful moments. You need to say these things to her. Maybe in a controlled setting?"

Linda got up and walked to her desk, flipping open her appointment book. "I have an opening for 10am tomorrow. Do you think you could convince Chloe to come in tomorrow? With you?"

"That might be a good idea," Lucifer conceded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I adore the mutual hatred/bromance between Lucifer and Dan. There's more of it to come.


	8. Fed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe makes Dan a homecooked meal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note on the release schedule: my two day kayaking trip that got rained out last weekend is a go for this weekend! I'll have limited access to the internet, so won't be able to edit the next chapter. I've been aiming to release chapters every three days, which would mean that the next one would come out on Monday, but, I think it will probably be Tuesday evening at least before I can get the next chapter out. I apologize for the future delay :(

_Normal, everything has to be normal._

Maze had been fairly cranky about learning that a) Dan knew the truth and b) that she was getting kicked out of the house when Chloe was making a home cooked meal. After a promise of leftovers, the demon grumbled her way out of the house.

And Chloe worked hard on _normal._

She was laying it on a bit thick, she knew. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes was Dan's favorite meal. Towards the end of their marriage, it very much became a dish that Chloe made to mend fences. After the divorce, it was something she made for her friend and co parent when he was having a rough day. 

Over the course of the day, Chloe had noticed things getting… sharper. She had been teetering on the edge of needing reading glasses before, but couldn't quite suck it up enough to buy a pair, but today, her computer screen was sharp and clear. The noise level of everything had picked up a bit too. It hadn't been major, but after she heard a whispered conversation from across the precinct, she finally had to admit that magic wrinkle remover and wings weren't the only changes happening to her.

She heard Dan's steps approaching her door and expected a knock. Instead, she heard him mutter, "It's just Chloe. Play it cool. Make sure Trixie is okay." There was another pause before she heard a soft knock on her front door.

"Trixie!" She called. "Your dad is here!"

Trixie ran from her bedroom and flung open the door. Dan picked her up, giving her a hug. "How ya doing, Trix?"

"Good! Did you have a bad day?"

Dan pulled back and examined his daughter's face. "Why do you ask?"

"Mom is making meatloaf and mashed potatoes. She only does that when you're having a bad day."

Dan's eyes swiveled to his ex-wife. She gave him an apologetic shrug. "I thought it would help."

Dan looked at her, standing in the kitchen in a plain yellow blouse and jeans, holding a spoon. She was the very picture of domesticity. It was very easy, in that moment, to pretend that she didn't have wings. "Thank you," he said, sincerely.

Chloe gave him a little smile and turned back to the potatoes, boiling on the stovetop. "Trixie, why don't you finish up your homework. Dinner will be ready soon."

"Can I tell Dad about my science fair project first?"

"Sure," she said. "But don't take too long. You've still got work to do before dinner."

Dan followed Trixie into her bedroom, as she talked a mile a minute about the different kinds of rocks. She looked happy and safe and normal. His daughter's voice and presence calmed him. After a solid ten minutes of conversation, Dan pointed her back in the direction of math and rejoined Chloe in the kitchen.

“Potatoes are about done. Want them plain or with garlic and sour cream?”

“Butter, salt and pepper,” he said. “She seems okay.”

Chloe nodded. “She is okay.” She pulled the pot off the stovetop and drained the water. “Dan, I know this may not be the best time to ask you for a favor…”

“What is it?”

She put the pot back down on the stove and sighed. “I’m telling her tomorrow. I’d like you to be there if she doesn’t take it well. She may want to stay with you for awhile.”

“Do you think she’ll be afraid?”

Chloe looked up at him, her eyebrows pinching together. “Aren’t you?”

Dan looked into Chloe’s eyes, and they were scared. “Are you okay?”

“No.”

“Are you in trouble?” Not that there was much Dan could do if she was, but...

“No.”

“Why are you scared?”

Chloe sighed and grabbed the butter from the fridge. Real butter, Dan noticed. “I’ve been scared since I found out what Lucifer was,” she admitted, quietly.

“Scared of Lucifer?”

“No,” she shook her head, dumping a stick of butter into the pot with the potatoes. “Not anymore.”

“Then why are you scared?”

Chloe dumped whole milk into the potatoes and added a dash of salt and pepper. “Everything’s different now. And I’m still not sure what it all means. There’s so much I don’t know.”

Dan bent down and got the mixer out of the lower cabinet. "Well, let's start with what you do know.” He handed her the mixer.

Chloe took a deep breath in and let it out. “I know I have wings. I know that I'm apparently immortal. I know that my partner and best friend is the Devil. Which should be terrifying, but it’s not. Because he’s still Lucifer.”

“He’s really the Devil. Like the actual, Biblical Devil? Cast out of Heaven, ruler of Hell?”

Chloe nodded. Dan had a moment of surreality. No way was this all real. No way was the Devil a civilian consultant for the LAPD. No way was the mother of his child an _angel._ And no way was an angel making him mashed potatoes. Then Chloe reached behind her and scratched between her shoulder blades. “Why do you keep scratching your back?”

“Wings itch,” she said, picking up the mixer. “It’s like this constant reminder that everything is crazy now.”

“Where do they go when they’re not all…” he flapped his arms to the side.

“They’re in my back. You can feel them.” She pointed to a spot on her back. “Press there. You can feel the indention.”

“It won’t hurt?” Dan asked. She shook her head. Dan pressed lightly between her spine and her shoulder blade and felt a dip in her skin. Something fluttered _inside_ her. It reminded Dan of when he could feel Trixie’s kicks from Chloe’s stomach. He jerked his hand away.

“Sorry,” Chloe said, turning on the mixer. He watched as she worked. Every now and then, she’d give a little jerk of her shoulder. Slowly, he put his hand on her back again and gave a little scratch. Chloe looked back over her shoulder and smiled. “Thanks. That feels good.”

“Lucifer has scars there.”

“Lucifer _used_ to have scars there. He cut his wings off. They grew back.”

“That can happen?”

“Apparently. Angel bodies are weird.” The oven timer dinged. “Can you grab that, please?” 

He found a bit of comfort in the fact that, as weird as this was for him, it was even weirder for Chloe. Dan grabbed two potholders from the counter and took the meatloaf out of the over, placing it on the stove. “Smells great, Chloe.”

“Thank you.”

“Why did he cut them off?”

Chloe took a deep breath in. “I don’t know. He was kind of vague and Lucifer-ish about the whole thing. I think it comes down to the fact that he was tired of being who he was supposed to be and wanted to live his own life instead of the one that was chosen for him. He couldn’t go back to Hell if he didn’t have wings.”

“He didn’t want to be the Devil?”

“I think so.”

“And that’s why he’s on Earth? To what? Forge his own path?”

“Pretty much.”

“There’s no cosmic significance to it? The world isn’t ending or anything?”

“Not that I know of, no.”

“And Trixie’s safe around him?”

“She is.”

“And Maze?”

“Same.”

Dan pulled three plates from the cabinet. “She makes so much more sense as a demon.”

Chloe laughed. “She really does.” She put the meatloaf and potatoes on the table and turned back to Dan. “So, tomorrow night?”

Dan nodded. “I’ll be here.”

Chloe smiled at him. “Let’s keep things normal tonight for Trixie. She deserves one more night of thinking things are the way they were.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He put the plates on the table and shouted, “Trixie! Dinner’s ready!”

*****

Dinner was nice. Chloe and Dan laughed at their daughter’s stories, and they both chided her for building a castle with her mashed potatoes. As it was this morning, Chloe loved the chance to have a normal conversation without celestial crap peeking in and ruining her mood. Dan left to put Trixie to bed while Chloe cleaned up in the kitchen.

When he walked back out, Chloe was wiping down the counter. She handed him a beer from the fridge and took one for herself. “Yesterday morning, when you came by to pick her up…” he began.

“This,” she said, pointing vaguely to her back, “had all just happened. I was in Heaven, Dan. I talked to God. Everything was weird. I got back and I just wanted to see my baby.”

“What’s God like?”

Chloe took a swing of her beer. “He’s a dick.”

“Will you get, I don’t know, smited for saying that or something?”

“If he was going to do it, he probably would have done it when I called him a dick to his face.”

The look on Dan’s face was epic. Chloe couldn't help but laugh at him. "Were you trying to get killed?" he asked, eyes wide.

"I was already dead. I figured that I didn't have much to lose. But I don't think God minded much. While I was up there, Lucifer's dad gave me a choice, Dan. Heaven, Hell, or coming back as an angel.”

It was easier, Dan decided then, if he just allowed himself to pretend that this whole conversation wasn't real. “Why did you choose this?”

“Trixie. I didn’t want her to grow up without her mother.”

“Like you grew up without your dad?”

Chloe nodded, taking a sip of beer. “It’s not all bad, I suppose. I don’t particularly like everyone telling me how pretty I look, since it’s all fake. And my wings bother me unless they’re out. Not aging will be weird. But, I get a little bit of time. Time to raise Trixie. Time to wrap up the life of Chloe Decker.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Chloe picked at the label of her beer bottle, stalling before she answered. “Lucifer and I get to stay on Earth as long as Trixie is alive.”

“And then?”

“Then Lucifer goes back to rule Hell, with me by his side.” Chloe took a deep swig of her beer. “So, that sucks.”

Dan's brain tried to overload at that statement. _Don't think about it,_ he told himself, _Pretend it's just a story._ "What does that mean?" He finally asked.

Chloe gave a sad little laugh. "That means that you're sitting here having a beer with the Queen of Hell."

Dan blinked at her, his eyes growing wider. _Just pretend it's a story,_ he repeated in his head, like a mantra. But, apparently it took him too long to answer.

Chloe, _the angel,_ was narrowing her eyebrows in displeasure. "Stop looking at me like that, Dan. Nothing will change in your lifetime."

He shook his head, coming out of his freak out. _It's just Chloe._ "But what about after?" 

"After? I don't know, really. Lucifer doesn't talk about Hell much. Not really. I kind of get the impression that he'd kind of like to forget that it exists."

"Have you ever been?"

Chloe shook her head. "Just Heaven."

Dan laughed at that. " You say it like it's no big deal."

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that it's even happening."

 _You and me both._ "Will you have to, I don't know, go down and visit or something?"

Chloe shrugged. "Probably. I'm not looking forward to it. But I'm going to be spending most of my life there, so I'll have to figure it out eventually."

"Huh." Dan was silent for a minute, rolling the beer bottle between his hands. Suddenly he looked up, with wide eyes. "Does that mean that you're the Devil too?"

Chloe looked confused. "Maybe? I don't know. Lucifer's an archangel, though. I think that makes a difference."

"What's the difference between an archangel and an angel?"

"As soon as I figure that out, I'll let you know. Dan, I really don't know much more about this than you do. Maybe you should pick Lucifer's brain."

"Why haven't you?"

Chloe shrugged. "It's all kind of awkward right now. Lucifer and I aren’t in the best place.”

“Why?”

Chloe took another swig of her beer. “It’s a long story. The short answer is that I didn’t take it very well when I found out my partner was the Devil.”

Dan wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. He took another drink to buy himself some time. “Well, if anyone can make him behave, it’s you.” He clinked his bottle against Chloe’s and finished it off.

Chloe’s phone beeped then. She looked at the screen and gave a little laugh. “Well, speak of the Devil…”

Dan rolled his eyes. “I will never think of that phrase the same way again.”

“Tell me about it. Do you know how many phrases we use that involve Heaven, Hell, God and the Devil? It’s freaky once you know it’s all real.”

Dan smiled and shook his head. Yeah, this was enough for tonight. “I better get going. Thanks for dinner, Chloe.”

“You’re welcome.”

He stood to leave, but turned back when he reached the front door. “I want to bring Kent Carlton back in again. See if he has anything that can help us link his dad to Kassie’s death.”

“Sounds like a plan. I already set up an interview tomorrow afternoon with Harry Carlton and his lawyer. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Dan nodded and smiled. “See you then.”

When Chloe heard the door shut, she released her wings, overjoyed to get them out in the open. She picked up her phone again to read Lucifer’s message.

_Lucifer: Call me?_

She dialed his number. He picked up on the first ring. “Hey.”

“Hello, Detective. How’d things go with the Douche?”

“Not bad. I cooked his favorite meal. It seemed to help.”

“Are there leftovers?”

“Yes. Are you hungry?”

“Ravenous.”

“Come on by. Bring Maze with you. I promised her leftovers.”

“See you soon.”

Chloe hung up the phone and fell back on the couch, her wings spreading out behind her. Her eyes closed…

...and what felt like seconds later, her front door opened and Maze and Lucifer walked in. Maze went straight to the fridge, dishing out a large portion of the meal and sticking it in the microwave. “Aww, look at you, all cute and angelic,” she said, grinning.

Chloe groaned and let her head fall back on the couch. "Serve yourself, Lucifer. I'm tired." 

_Yeah_ , Lucifer thought, _she's still upset._

"Maze," she heard him whisper, "may I have a moment alone with the Detective?"

"Why? It's not like you're fucking," Maze whispered back. "I think you pissed her off."

"I'm trying to fix that," Lucifer muttered.

"I can hear you," Chloe said.

There was silence from the kitchen for a beat before Lucifer said, with false sunshine in his voice, "I take it your angelic senses have decided to kick in?"

"Yeah, they've been getting sharper all day." 

Maze pulled her food out of the microwave and headed upstairs. "So now I have to worry about waking up Trix _and_ you? This sucks."

"Don't leave your plate in your room again!" Chloe said to Maze's retreating back. 

Maze gave her the finger and muttered, “Angels are tight asses.”

"Demons," Lucifer said. "What can you do?"

Chloe leaned her head back again and listened to Lucifer puttering around in the kitchen. He came out a few minutes later with a plate laden with leftovers, a bottle of scotch, and a beer. He put the beer on the coffee table in front of Chloe.

"Detective, I owe you an apology."

"We've gone over this, Lucifer. You don't owe me anything. I shouldn’t have gotten upset about what you said.”

Lucifer shoved a bite into his mouth. “What do you call this? It’s delicious.”

“Meatloaf.”

She heard him take two more bites. Her head was still resting against the back of the couch, her eyes closed. 

“What I said was out of line," Lucifer said."I know you feel a great deal of remorse about your actions. I shouldn’t continue to punish you. Especially since you insist on punishing yourself so severely.”

“I’m not punishing myself.”

“Of course you are. You’re punishing yourself. My father punished you. If I piled onto it, it would just be cruel.”

“Well, I apologize for taking your fun away from you, Lucifer,” Chloe said bitterly.

“This isn’t fun for me.”

“So then why the hell are you being so nice, if not to torture me? Because that’s what you’re doing.”

“I'm not _torturing_ you!" he said, offended. "I’m being nice because I want you to be okay.”

“Stop it.” She sprung up from the couch and turned her red eyes on him. “Just fucking stop it. You should hate me.”

“Because you hate yourself?”

“Don't project your own crap onto me,” Chloe said with spite. 

Lucifer’s jaw dropped open. "What makes you think that I hate myself?

Chloe looked at him like he was stupid. "Really? I figured out that you had some serious self-loathing _way_ before I figured out that you were the Devil."

Lucifer glared for a minute and stabbed another bite of meatloaf onto his fork. "I am very good at seeing guilt in people, Detective I've had a bit of experience. You need to let go of it. It will eat you up."

 _"I can't let it go, Lucifer!_ I don't deserve peace of mind after what I've done!" Chloe then realized that she’d raised her voice and shot a guilty look at Trixie’s bedroom door. “If you want to continue this, come upstairs. I don’t want to wake Trixie.” Nope, she wasn't using this as an excuse to escape. Not at all. She stormed towards the stairs and cursed under her breath as her wings came in contact with the wall. She folded them in and walked upstairs.

Lucifer sat in the living room, eating his reheated meal and debated for a minute about just leaving. Maybe the Detective would feel better once she’d slept.

But he didn’t like the idea of her being so upset.

Finally he sucked up his courage and went upstairs. He gave a soft knock before opening the door to Chloe’s room. She was sitting against her headboard, curled up into a ball, her wings wrapped around her. All Lucifer could see of her was a ball of feathers. He kicked off his shoes and sat down on the foot of her bed, curled up like she was and manifested his wings, wrapping them around himself. He kept his head out of the feathered cocoon though so that he could watch her in silence.

He sat there, watching the soft lamplight play off the colors of her wings. They were magnificent. She was magnificent. And she was still broken. He probably should be upset for how she struck out at him, but he just couldn't raise the emotion. He found himself still struggling with the desire to hurt her for hurting him, and the desire to hold her and make everything okay.

The latter was winning. 

Finally, one wing shifted a bit and he saw blue eyes peering at him from under the sunset-colored curtain. “What are you doing?” she said quietly.

“I don’t know what to say to you. Everything I say seems to backfire. I’d like to sit with you for awhile if you don’t mind.”

Her wings hid her face again. “Why do you have your wings out?”

“Seemed like the thing to do. You look warm.”

“It feels safe like this,” he heard her mummer.

He watched her in silence for a minute, the feather ball rising and falling with her breath. “When I was young,” he said softly, “I used to do this same thing. I was the oddball, even before I was kicked out. I had Michael at least. He knew what it was like. He and I were the only archangels. The Demiurge, we were called."

"What's that mean?'

"You know most of the important bits already. We were the ones that did all the heavy lifting in creation. He and I were made different so that we could create. But Michael was wired more like the others. Obedient, loyal."

"Your dad said something about that. He said he needed you to be different."

"I was a tool to be used. We all are, really. All part of my father's plan." Lucifer held out one wing and examined it. "I'm the only angel with white wings."

"Precious Moments figurines got that one wrong."

"Indeed. My wings made me stand out. It was said by my siblings that my father gave me the most beautiful wings because I was the most loved."

"What do you think?"

"I think that I'm the only one who got sent to Hell, separated from the family and vilified for most of human history."

Chloe let her wings drop from her face so that she could properly look at him. He was busy scowling out her bedroom window.

"Do you miss being around your family?" She asked, gently, cautiously.

Lucifer shrugged. "The whole lot of them are tossers for the most part, so no, not really. Not since I settled here on Earth. This is where I want to be."

"But you'll have to leave. And that's because of me."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I always knew this wouldn't be permanent. And, as much as I'm loath to have you set foot in Hell, I must say, there's something comforting about knowing that you'll be with me when I go back. It won't be forever, Detective. We can't exactly leave any time we want, but we can travel."

Chloe sighed, trying to imagine what kind of life she'd have in Hell while looking around her plain, normal bedroom, which currently held two angels. Their wings looked out of place against her prefabricated furniture. She realized that she didn't fit here, really. Not anymore. "I'm scared, Lucifer," she whispered.

"As am I."

Chloe took a deep breath in, finding her resolve, and let her wings fall to her sides. "But we have time now. We should make the most of it."

He gave her a little smile and poked her with a wingtip. "I concur, Detective." He let his wings fall back as well to drape off the end of the bed. "Linda would like to see us both tomorrow at 10, if you'd like."

Chloe thought about that for a minute while fiddling with a feather on the top ridge of her wing. Therapy honestly sounded miserable, but Lucifer wanted it, and there was a part of Chloe that desperately wanted to be back in Lucifer's good graces, even though she knew that she didn't deserve his time and consideration. "Okay," she whispered finally.

Lucifer leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss on the top of her head. "Have pleasant dreams, Detective. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Thanks, Lucifer." She gave him a small smile.

"I'll let myself out and lock up behind me. Get some rest."

Chloe listened as Lucifer's footsteps went down the stairs and out the door. When she heard the lock click, she laid back, wrapping her wings around herself like a blanket and fell almost immediately into a dreamless slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and for your comments!
> 
> I'm still fairly new at writing fanfiction and I've got a question for y'all: I've written several chapters ahead, and an upcoming chapter is giving me all kinds of headaches. I've got it writen. It gets the charecters where they need to go, but it's just.... lacking... which is extra impressive as it sits at over 4000 words. I'm ready to admit that I may need help. How does one find a beta? I know literally nothing about how to go about doing this. Thank you!


	9. Interlude: Showered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe takes a shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea for this popped into my head while I was in the shower this morning, and I couldn't get rid of it. It just so happened that it fit in well at this point in the story.
> 
> So, y'all get a bit of a bonus chapter tonight!
> 
> I'm going to go ahead and throw up a trigger warning for this chapter. If the discussion of body identity issues makes you uncomfortable, this may not be a chapter for you. The good news is that nothing really happens in this chapter. You can skip right on over this one and not miss any of the plot. This is basically just 1600 words of Chloe being distressed over her new body while she takes a shower.
> 
> I'm writing this on my phone, next to a tent, on the bank of a river, and I've had a few adult beverages, so editing is pretty much non-exsistant.

Chloe stood in her bathroom, dreading her shower.

That first shower after her trip to Heaven happened in a daze. She'd been too overwhelmed to think much about it. Yesterday, she'd told herself that she hadn't needed a shower, not really.

The truth was, she'd been stalling. Since that first awful moment in front of the mirror, she'd kept herself as clothed as possible. Because she was now in the very weird place of being afraid of her own body.

It was only after her second bathroom break of the day on Wednesday that it struck her as odd that she still _had_ to use the bathroom. Then she realized that was stupid. If she put food and drink into her system, it had to go somewhere. It couldn't just magically disappear.

Like the obnoxiously itchy feathery appendages on her back magically disappeared. 

She made a point, though, while using the restroom to not look at herself, and to touch herself as little as possible.

Mirrors were to be avoided at all costs.

Wednesday night, she'd slept in a sweatshirt and pajama pants, covering as much of her new skin as possible. Last night, she'd fallen asleep in her clothes. 

Now she was standing in front of her shower, fully clothed, with a towel hung over her bathroom mirror, and she realized that she may be acting a bit ridiculous.

Chloe turned the shower on, committing herself to taking care of business.

At some point, Maze had upgraded the water heater in the apartment to a tankless, so steaming hot water was flowing from the tap, quicker than Chloe would like.

And still, she stood fully clothed.

_Don't think about it. Just clean yourself. Don't overthink it._

Lucifer had been dropping little tips and tricks to dealing with wings over the last two days. He said the itch was probably just because her insides were basically being tickled with feathers. And either her wings would calm down and stay still inside her back or she'd get used to it, because apparently, his wings rarely itched.

Lucky.

But, one of the first things he mentioned was, "Don't get your wings wet unless you're ready to take an hour or two to dry them out. Putting them away wet feels like walking in wet socks."

So, her wings were folded now, even though she'd woken up with them curled around her.

And the shower was still running, and she was still clothed. 

Keeping her eyes firmly glued to the shower head, she stripped, trying as hard as possible to not touch her skin. She stepped into the hot water and let it wash over her.

It felt amazing. It felt safe.

Chloe reached over and grabbed her shampoo, squeezing a glob out into her hand. As she worked the lather through her hands, she realized that her hair really _was_ thicker now. The extra weight of it pulled on her as she rinsed the shampoo and applied conditioner. 

Speaking of hair…

She raised her arm and felt a few days worth of stubble. Apparently an angelic transformation didn't get rid of body hair.

This annoyed her more than she cared to admit. She'd happily keep her scars if it meant that she didn't have to mess with razors and waxing anymore.

Would a regular human razor even work, or would she have to start shaving with one of Maze's blades?

Nope, razors work. Maybe because hair is dead? She'd have to ask Lucifer.

Any unwanted hair from the waist down was getting ignored today.

But she had to wash herself. This was just getting ridiculous.

Trepidatiously, she poured shower gel into her hands, silently cursing whoever stole her loofah. Again. Normally, she would be quick to accuse Maze of the theft, but the last time one had gone missing, she'd found it in her daughter's bedroom being used as a prop in whatever play she was staging with her dolls. Someone stole the loofah. Whoever it was was in trouble.

_Stop procrastinating._

She started with her toes and feet. The differences here were small, but noticeable. The skin was smoother, and the bottoms of her feet were so soft that it felt like she'd just had a pedicure, even though she hadn't gone for months. Working her way up her legs, she lamented the loss of the scars on her knees and legs, which were all mostly the result of bike riding accidents in her youth. Her hand lingered over her right knee. Her dad had patched that particular wound. Mom had been on set somewhere, and Dad sat an 11 year old Chloe down on the couch, picking gravel out of the wound and wrapping it in gauze. "My brave little Monkey," he'd said.

But now she could see him again. Whenever she wanted. She didn't need that scar anymore. She raised her eyes to the heavens and thought, _Daddy, I'll come and visit soon._

Chloe moved to her arms next. These were the most familiar of her new body parts and she managed to get through them without having her stomach roll. There was only a small flicker of unease as she passed over her unmarked shoulder. 

_Okay. I'm okay. I'll be okay. I can do this._

She didn't touch her back at all.

She let the water pour over her for a moment before grabbing more soap and running her hands over her breasts. Slightly larger, maybe? Not so much that her bras didn't fit, but they were firm again, and perfectly shaped. The sag that came after Trixie was gone. 

She'd never felt like her breasts were _hers._ Not really. Before the movie, her sexual experiences were almost nonexistent. She had always been driven to succeed, and that had left little time to worry about boys. After the movie? Her few first stumbling encounters after her father's death had been with boys who had seen that stupid movie and were very anxious to get their hands on her breasts.

She'd told Dan that she didn't like her breasts being touched. He was understanding. He never asked why, he just seemed to know. He never tried to touch them again. It was one of the things that attracted her to him, to be honest. 

Breastfeeding had been a challenge for her. Not for any physical reasons, but because it was hard having _anyone_ touch her there. She'd had a bad day about two weeks after Trixie's birth. She'd been holding it in, telling herself that she was being ridiculous for getting upset about her newborn feeding from her. That's what breasts were designed for after all, but it didn't help with the soul deep panic that swept through her every time her daughter latched. She'd ended up crying in the bathroom that night, while Dan sat downstairs with a screaming Trixie. He'd called her mother for her. Penelope had shown a rare moment of clarity when she arrived. She'd said that breastfeeding was a struggle for her as well for similar reasons. Penelope tried it, hated it, and moved to formula before Chloe ever left the hospital. Her mother held her while she cried and told her _how proud_ she was of Chloe for making it to two weeks.

Chloe ended up breastfeeding for 6 weeks total through sheer tenacity, but that was it. Occasionally people would try to guilt her for not breastfeeding for longer, and Chloe was never able to come up with a good excuse to get people off her back.

Because "I don't want to breastfeed because my naked boobs were in a stupid movie" seemed like a crap excuse. 

But, fuck it, breastfeeding was making her resent her child, and she didn't want that. Moving to the bottle finally allowed her to see her child as someone she loved, instead of someone who made her uncomfortable.

Like the stretch marks, the bit of sag in her breasts made her feel a bit better about her body overall. And now that was gone and she was "perfect." 

Chloe had mentioned to Marcus that she didn't like her breast touched. He acquiesced at first, but he'd continue to paw at them and roll his eyes when she pulled his hand away.

Dick.

And now she had perfect angel boobs. Tentatively, she cupped a hand over one breast. Her heart rate spiked, but she kept her hand there, telling herself that everything was fine.

It wasn't. But she could handle this. Probably.

Okay. Keep washing. 

Chloe put more soap in her hands and reached between her legs, scared of what she would find. Trixie had been an uncomplicated vaginal birth. Chloe hadn't torn at all, so she’d been spared any of the complications that so many women went through. When Chloe touched a soaped up hand between her legs, she was pleased to find that things down south seemed, well, fairly similar. Maybe a bit firmer and tighter, but mostly unchanged. She felt a familiar thrill when she ran her fingers over sensitive spots, so everything seemed to be in working order.

Not like she was getting laid, but good to know nonetheless.

Her wings gave a twitch in her back at that moment. It's not like she needed another reminder that her body wasn't right anymore. That it wasn't _hers._

_I'm not human,_ she thought, her stomach dropping. A month and a half ago, she thought that being human was the only option. And now, not only did she know that non-human sentient beings exsisted, but she was now one of them.

 _I am not going to cry in the shower._ She repeated that to herself over and over again, letting the warm water soothe her, until her freak out passed her by.

Chloe turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her. She closed the toilet lid and sat down, weary.

"I took a shower," she muttered, chiding herself. "I didn't run a marathon."

She stood up and puled the towel down from the bathroom mirror, wiping the condensation from the glass. She gazed at her polished and perfected reflection. "I'm still me," she told the woman in the mirror. "I'm Chloe Jane Decker. Mother to Trixie, detective with the LAPD."

Any other titles and additions to her identity weren't important right now

She was Chloe Decker, and she had a murder to solve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to the real plot next chapter. Couple's therapy. Poor Linda, that woman deserves a medal.


	10. Raw

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Linda earns every cent of her paycheck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of notes before we go into this one:
> 
> First, thanks to Coryphion and Savagita for your notes on this chapter. You both made it so much better than it was :)
> 
> Second, I'm not a therapist. Hoping that I didn't break too many rules with this.
> 
> Third, I said this chapter would release on Tuesday. I'm sitting at three minutes to midnight right now local time as I type this note, so I think it's actually going to be very early on Wednesday morning. I am very sorry :(
> 
> Fourth, there's a lot of italics in this chapter, but, in my defense, it gets a bit heated.
> 
> Fifth and finally, #blacklivesmatter. In the last few days, a friend of mine got arrested, another friend got tear gassed. Both during non-violent, peaceful protests, but I've also seen people I know and love demonstrate amazing examples of humanity at it's best. Stay safe out there, my friends, and make your voice heard. 
> 
> And now, on to your regularly scheduled escapism :) I very much enjoy poking my head into this world to take a break from the drama that is 2020. It brings me a great deal of peace.

Lucifer pulled up to Dr. Martin's office at 5 minutes till 10 and was unsurprised to see Chloe's cruiser already in the parking lot. "Overachiever," he muttered under his breath. When he walked into the waiting room, Chloe was already there, looking at her phone. "Good morning, Detective."

She looked up and gave him a small smile. "Hey."

"What are you reading?" he asked, sitting down beside her.

"Ella's report. She looked over the scene again. There were a couple of short gray hairs that may belong to Harry. Of course, those could have shown up at any time, so we still don't have anything." She shut off her phone and glared at the wall.

"We need a confession. Any chance of you doing whatever it is you did to the accountant?"

"I have no clue. I don't even know how it worked."

"We'll figure it out."

Linda opened the door then, her eyes dancing between Chloe and Lucifer. “Good morning. Thank you both for coming in. Chloe, would you like to go first?”

Chloe nodded and stood up, nerves fluttering in her stomach. She walked into the office and pointed to the sofa. “Do I just…?”

Linda nodded, sitting down across from her. “Please, have a seat.”

“I’ve never really done therapy before.”

Linda nodded. “Not even through work?”

Chloe scoffed. “All they want to know is if you’re crazy or not. That’s easy enough to get through.”

“Not when your dad died?”

She shook her head. “My mom did. I just poured myself into school.”

This didn’t surprise Linda. “Since this is new for you, may I go over a few things?”

“Sure.”

“Thank you. I’d like to level with you, Chloe. Therapy involves a bit of trickery on the part of the therapist. We ask questions, look for reactions, and then tailor our sessions to try to get to the root of what’s bothering you. People complain about therapy being extremely time consuming. They don’t understand why it takes months to get ‘fixed.’ But, it takes a long time to build the kind of trust you need to get someone to really open up. To learn what the real problem is and try to work through it. I’ve been seeing Lucifer for years, and there’s still things he won’t touch on with me. You’re a smart woman, Chloe, and you know how to poke and prod at people to get them to confess. I’m not naive enough to think that my usual methods will be very productive with you. You’ll see through them. We know each other socially, so I’d like to think that we have a baseline level of trust coming into this. And I’d like to think that you know that I have your best interests at heart and that, no matter what you say, I won’t judge you.”

Chloe nodded.

“Good. That’s good. So, I’d like to ask you a question, to see if we can get to the root of things. If you answer honestly, it will save us a lot of time and energy. If you’re flippant or if you try to obfuscate, it will make things go a lot slower. Do you understand?”

Chloe nodded again.

“Okay. I know coming to therapy wasn’t your idea, but since you came, I assume you think that it may help you. So here’s the question: What do you want to get out of this? And don’t feel like you’re rushed to give an answer.”

It was a good question, Chloe had to admit. The first answer that sprang to her mind was, _To get Lucifer off my back._ But that wasn’t the real problem, was it? The problem was the deep, seething thing that had taken up residence inside of her the minute she ran from Lucifer in fear. It was that dark thing that drove her to Rome. It almost made her poison her best friend. And it was what was causing her to push him away now. With that in mind, she said, “I’m angry and I’m scared. The world I knew crashed down on me, and now there’s no escaping it. I’ve got an eternity in Hell in front of me, and even though I know that I can leave from time to time, that terrifies me. And every time I look at Lucifer, I have all of these emotions that I hate. I’m angry at him for hiding the truth from me. I’m constantly reminded of the fact that I tried to hurt him, which makes me feel horrible. And,” she paused, studying her scar-free hands. “When I’m around him, I can’t pretend that my life is normal. And he’s trying to comfort me, but that only makes me feel worse, because he should hate me for what I did. I hate myself for it,” she ended quietly, thinking of Lucifer's words from the night before.

“Thank you, Chloe. That was really good.”

“You already knew that was what was wrong, didn’t you?”

“I told you that you were too smart for therapy,” Linda said with a smile.

Chloe let a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth.

“Chloe, can you tell me what went through your head when you learned the truth about Lucifer?”

“After the mind numbing terror?”

Linda nodded. 

“Anger. More anger than anything else.”

“Why were you angry?”

“Because he lied to me. I thought,” she sniffed, “I thought that we could be something more. I wanted it, so bad. And then I came to find out…” she paused again. “If he was hiding this from me, what else was he hiding? And why on Earth would the Devil ever be interested in _me_? So, I took my daughter and I ran.”

“Were you hurt to learn that he'd kept something so major from you?”

Chloe took a breath in. “Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answer?”

“To get you to admit it to yourself.”

Chloe glared at Linda, then rolled her eyes. “Yes, I was hurt. It hurt that he didn’t trust me.”

Linda gave a small smile. “If it makes you feel any better, I think he probably trusts you more than anyone else.”

“Obviously not enough to tell me the truth," she scoffed. "But he shouldn't have trusted me at all. Look what I did with that trust!”

“You struck. You struck from a place of fear, hurt, anger and betrayal. And about five minutes after you realized your mistake, your entire life got upended again. And it got upended because of Lucifer.”

“No, it got upended because I was an idiot. And because his dad is a dick.”

“Chloe, would this have happened to you if you hadn’t known Lucifer?”

“Well, apparently that was my whole reason for existing. To be with Lucifer,” she responded bitterly.

Linda was relieved that Lucifer had told her this, even though it wasn’t doing her any favors at the moment. “You’re angry at him for lying. But is it possible that you’re blaming him for everything you’re going through right now?”

“It’s not his fault,” Chloe snapped back.

“I know that, and, on the surface, you know that too. But do you really believe that?”

Chloe glared out the window, her mouth set in a thin line.

“Chloe, do you want to work past this?”

She continued to glare, but gave the tiniest possible nod.

“Then you need to admit it.”

“I shouldn’t blame him. I shouldn’t be angry at him. What I did to him was worse than what he did to me,” she said, almost like a mantra.

“Is that what you say to yourself to keep from expressing how you really feel about it?”

“I don’t have the right to feel the way I do.”

“But you do feel that way. Do you want to keep feeling that way or do you want to move on?”

Chloe sighed. “I want to move on.”

“That’s good. Now, you get to tell him.”

“What?” Chloe said, jerking her head towards Linda. “I can’t tell him that! It would make him feel awful!”

“Chloe, he’s already guessed most of it. And it’s eating him up. Get it out. Get over it. Then begin to heal. And, for a very weird change, I actually think he’s in a healthier place right now than you are. He can take it.”

“ _Linda,_ ” Chloe whined as the therapist stood up and opened the door.

“Lucifer, you can come in now.”

Lucifer walked into the office and gestured to the empty spot on the couch beside Chloe. “May I sit?”

Chloe gestured to the spot next to her without meeting his eyes.

Linda sat down across from the two of them, straightening her skirt. “This probably won’t be an easy conversation for either of you. Do you understand?”

They both nodded.

“You’re both upset. Upset about the circumstances and upset at each other. But you’re both hiding it to protect the feelings of the other. I’m afraid that may lead to a kind of resentment that can fester over time. The impulse you both have to protect the other’s emotional health is backfiring right now. People who love each other fight and they piss each other off. It happens. What the two of you need to do is learn to work past that. And, right now? You’re not doing that. You’re both trying to pretend that everything is normal, when it clearly isn’t. I’d like to ask the both of you some yes or no questions. Please answer honestly.”

“Always the truth, Doctor,” Lucifer said, crossing his legs.

“Normally, yes or no questions are frowned upon, but, given Lucifer’s extreme ability of deflecting, we’re going to give this a try.” Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Chloe, I’d like to start with you.”

Chloe took a deep breath in, letting it out slowly. “Okay.”

“Do you care for Lucifer and want him to be happy? Remember, yes or no.”

“Yes,” Chloe said emphatically.

“Would you like your relationship with Lucifer to progress past friends and work partners?”

Chloe paused, “Yes, but..”

“Yes or no only, Chloe. Now, do you think you deserve his love?”

Her mouth pinched into a line. “No.”

“Okay, Lucifer. Same questions. Do you care for Chloe and want her to be happy?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Would you like your relationship with Chloe to progress past friends and work partners?”

“Yes,” he said slowly.

“Do you think you deserve her love?”

“No,” he said, lowering his gaze to his hands.

“Next question, Lucifer. Are you angry with Chloe?”

This was the longest pause yet. Finally, Lucifer said, “Yes.”

“Chloe? Same question.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. Her answer was barely a whisper. “Yes.”

“To the both of you, now. Do you think you can have a good relationship with the other with the anger you’re currently holding?”

Chloe shook her head. Lucifer glared. Only six inches separated them on the couch, but it might as well have been miles.

“I’m not going to be around forever and this will not be the last difficult patch that you’ll go through. You need to learn to communicate with each other. Lucifer, we’ll start with you. And please remember to give me the _full_ truth. Why are you angry at Chloe?”

Lucifer scoffed. “She knows why. And she’s beating herself up about it plenty. I don’t need to add to it.”

Linda sighed and sat back. “Lucifer, this is a waste of time if you don’t participate. You need to say it. Chloe needs to hear it.”

He rolled his eyes and leaned back. “She trusted a stranger over her partner. Is it the Detective’s turn now?”

“Not quite. Lucifer, before Charlotte’s death, you told me that Chloe said something to you on your balcony. Something that touched you deeply. What was that?”

Lucifer crossed his legs, stalling. Then he fiddled with his cufflinks. “She said that I wasn’t the Devil. Not to her.”

“What were you thinking when she said that?”

He paused again, sighing. “I was thinking that she really knew me. It felt like there was finally one person in existence who saw who I really was.” He stopped and took in a ragged breath. “And then she kissed me. And I thought everything would be okay.” 

“When you found out about her betrayal, did that change your memory of that moment?”

Lucifer was silent. His inner battle between wanting to protect Chloe and wanting to punish her waged inside of him. But as was often the case, Linda asked the perfect question. “You lied to me that night, Detective. I _am_ the Devil to you.” Lucifer couldn’t look at her. He couldn’t bear to see what his words were doing to her. “And then,” he said, quietly, “when you came home, you manipulated my feelings and made me think that you were okay. You kept lying to me.” He took a ragged breath and shrugged his shoulders “Honestly, after that, the poison just seemed like a little footnote. You _know_ how I felt about you, and you used my love as a weapon to bring me harm,” he ended. He sounded dismissive and proud, almost judgemental, but Chloe still heard the hurt in his voice. Hurt that she caused.

She closed her eyes and let a tear escape. “Felt…” she muttered under her breath. “Past tense.” She nodded, accepting. “You’re right, Lucifer. You’re absolutely right.”

And, like before, Chloe just took it. She didn’t fight back. She just sat on Linda’s couch, caved in on herself. The strong woman had been broken, and Lucifer hated it.

“I hate that this happened,” Lucifer finally muttered.

“Me too,” Chloe agreed.

Linda watched as Chloe studied the coffee table and Lucifer studied Chloe. She allowed them another minute of shared misery before she bent down, pouring two glasses of water from the jug on the table. She handed one each of them.

They both jerked at her motion, as if a spell had been broken.

“Chloe, it’s your turn now.”

“I don’t have anything to say,” she muttered.

“Chloe, the two of you have to talk about this…”

“Whatever is going on with me doesn’t matter, not after...” she said, raising her voice slightly.

“I disagree. Chloe, tell me why you’re angry at Lucifer.

“I don’t have the right to be…” Chloe’s eyes took on a slightly panicked look.

“Chloe, we’ve gone over this,” Linda said patiently. “Why are you angry with Lucifer?”

“I’m not…” Chloe shook her head. “I shouldn’t be… Linda, _stop asking me!_ ” Linda watched as Chloe’s grip increased on the glass of water.

"Chloe, you cannot heal and you can't get past this until you get it out."

Chloe just shook her head again, fighting back. Linda saw a flicker of red pass through Chloe’s eyes.

“Chloe, the priest fed off your fear and anger. Why were you angry?”

“It’s not important anymore!” Chloe’s voice rose with panic.

“Chloe, should Lucifer have told you the truth about himself earlier?”

She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting between what she felt and what she should feel. And then, _finally,_ she burst. “He didn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth. I had to find out on my own.” She turned to face him. “How could you possibly have felt the way you say you felt about me without trusting me?”

“Kinley…”

 _“This was before the priest, Lucifer!_ You wanted me. You say you loved me, but you strung me along, became my best friend, I fell in love with you and you _still_ didn’t tell me the truth!”

“I tried!” Lucifer said, his voice rising. “Twice! But you didn’t believe me! Because _you_ didn’t trust _me!_ You thought I was crazy!”

“Because you sounded crazy! I didn’t know what happened to you, but I knew it was bad. So bad, I thought, that you spun this elaborate tale about being the Devil! I didn’t want to push. I figured that you’d tell me when you were ready!”

“I _was_ ready! Twice!”

“How about all of the other times, Lucifer? All the stakeouts, all the hours we worked together, all the times you ate dinner at my home? What about those times? You could have told me any time and you didn’t! You almost let me marry _Cain!_ And you could have stopped it if you just told me the truth! Why didn't you tell me?” 

“Because I didn’t want to lose you!” Lucifer shouted, forcing himself into her space, his eyes going red. Chloe sat back on the couch, her mouth wide open. “I was afraid that you wouldn’t react well. That I’d never see you again after you learned the truth. That you would hate me. And I was right,” he spat at her. “And, even now. Now that you’re the same as me. Even now, you’re still afraid of me! I can see it in your eyes.” 

Chloe’s eyebrows hung high above her eyes in shock for just a second after Lucifer’s speech before swooping down in anger. “No, you idiot!" Chloe yelled, pushing back into his space. "Because I do trust you! I know you and I know you’ll never hurt me or Trixie. But I’m pissed at you. You bring me here, make me bear my soul. Have Linda press me to be honest, and when I am, you blow up at me and try to scare me off! I get that what I did was worse, Lucifer. _I know that!_ But I’m allowed to be pissed, too.”

Linda silently cheered at that.

“Detective…”

“No, Lucifer, shut up. I’ve been your punching bag, okay fine. I totally deserved it. But then, _I died for you!_ Then, we come back and suddenly you switch to being the nice supportive Lucifer when I know you want to rage at me, and then, when I think things may have finally settled down a bit, that maybe we can start over, you go and make a crack about ‘Well, at least Dan didn’t run off to Rome!’ So, decide, Lucifer, do you hate me or not?”

“I don’t hate you, Detective. I never could!”

“Then tell me where we stand,” she said, tears flowing down her face now. “Because my life is falling apart. I can’t take this bullshit on top of it. Just tell me, Lucifer, what do you fucking desire?”

Lucifer was silent then, the many things he wanted circling through his head. But what did he truly desire? Punishment? No. No, he didn’t really want that. Because his instinct had been right. Just like a soul stuck in a loop, there was absolutely no way that he could punish her more effectively than how she was punishing himself. And every time that he struck out at her, he felt like the monster she once thought he was. So, what did he desire? Funnily enough, it hadn’t changed since the last time he’d been asked that question. “I want you to choose me. Not because my father stuck us together, not because you’re scared and you think I can help you. I want you to choose me because you love me. But, no one can love the Devil, can they? Not really. Because, you’re right. The things that I’ve done, not only to others, but to you, those can never be forgiven, can they?”

Chloe opened her mouth to reply, but Linda held up her hands for them to stop. They both turned towards her, having momentarily forgotten her presence. “Chloe, do you think that what you’ve done to Lucifer can ever be forgiven?”

She turned back to him, looking in his eyes. She saw anger there, but also hurt. That same hurt that she’d seen time and time again. And she had added to it. Chloe knew that, beyond his sexcapades, beyond his larger than life presence, beyond the unknown horrors that he had seen and done, that underneath all that, there was someone pure and beautiful. She’d seen glimpses of it over the years, and oh, how she wanted to see more. But she threw away her chance to heal him. No matter what, no matter what the priest did, or what God did, she was the one who betrayed him. And that could never be fixed. “No. There’s nothing I can do to make up for it. He _should_ be mad. He should hate me. No, what I did can never be forgiven.”

Chloe got up to leave then. She wanted to run and never look back. However, Linda raised her voice. “Chloe. Sit. Down.” Chloe turned blazing red eyes to the small woman. Linda glared back at her, unafraid. “You don’t get to run out of here. I’m not done.”

“Detective," Lucifer said softly, "please sit.”

And how could she deny him anything that he asked?

Chloe sat. 

“Lucifer,” Linda asked, “how does it make you feel to hear Chloe say that?”

He looked deep into her red eyes. He pressed a hand to her cheek. “Blue, please?” He gave her a small smile when her eyes returned to blue. “I know how that feels, and it’s terrible. I’ve been holding that feeling for millennia. I don’t want you to feel that way. I don’t want you to hurt like I’ve been hurt.”

Chloe touched a hand to his cheek in turn. “And I wanted to help you. To make you feel loved and safe. Because, Lucifer, you’re so kind, and who you are is beautiful. You don’t deserve to feel like this. I wish I could have taken it away.” She looked down at her lap and took a breath, hardening her resolve. “But I didn’t. I made it worse. And hurting you? I can’t forgive myself for that. And you shouldn’t forgive me either. There has to be something rotten inside of me that caused me to do what I did. I feel,” she took a deep breath in, “I feel like a monster.”

Lucifer gasped. “No,” he said, pulling her into an embrace. She fit perfectly into his arms. “No, Chloe. You aren’t. One bad decision doesn’t define you. I won’t let it.”

Linda felt so pleased about how this was going that it took everything in her not to do a happy dance around her office. “Lucifer,” she said softly, “one bad decision shouldn’t define you either.”

Chloe felt his hand still on her back. “That one bad decision made me who I am,” Lucifer muttered into her shoulder.

“And mine made me who I am,” Chloe whispered in his ear.

Lucifer pulled back and gazed into her eyes, shaking his head. "No it didn't. It made you _what_ you are, not who you are. You made a mistake, Chloe. And, yes, I'm still angry. But it doesn't change who you are, and it doesn't change how I feel about you.”

She smiled and ran her hand against his cheek. “Lucifer, you know it's the same for you. You are so much more than the Devil, and who you are is beautiful. I wish that I had remembered that sooner. I'm so sorry."

"I know. As am I."

Another tear leaked from Chloe's eye. "I think that I'm a bit broken right now, Lucifer."

“I've been broken for years,” he said softly. “Would you like to help me put the pieces back together?”

“I would, more than anything,” she whispered, smiling. “Will you help me do the same?”

If Chloe didn’t know better, she could swear that she saw tears spring to his eyes. “It would be my pleasure.” He pulled her forward and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. Chloe let out a small laugh and wrapped her arms around Lucifer, allowing herself to be comforted by the man she loved. 

While safe in his embrace, Chloe turned to Linda. “Whatever he’s paying you, it’s not enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we have it! Chloe and Lucifer FINALLY take their first real steps in mending the rift in their relationship! They're not there 100%, not by a longshot, but they're ready to begin the journey. And we've still got tons of inner angst on other issues to work through *evil cackle*


	11. Powered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan is a guinea pig.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a break between two intense chapters.

Lucifer followed Chloe back to the precinct. When they both got out of their cars in the parking garage, they gave each other fleeting, shy grins. Chloe suddenly felt awkward around him, like she wasn't quite sure how she should act. What was their status now? She shuffled like a nervous teenager with her first crush. Lucifer slowly walked up to her. And even though she couldn't quite meet his eyes, she could feel nerves and uncertainty from him as well. Hesitantly, using only one finger, he raised her chin up to look into her eyes. Chloe felt heat rise to her cheeks. “You’re lovely when you blush, Detective.”

This only made Chloe blush more. She cleared her throat, stepping back. “We’ve got a murderer to catch, Lucifer.”

“We’ll catch him.”

“And we need to talk to Trixie tonight.”

“She’ll love your wings.”

“She goes back to Dan’s Sunday afternoon,” Chloe said coily.

Lucifer’s eyebrows shot up. “What do you have in mind, then?”

“Maybe we can mend some broken pieces?" she asked, uncertainty.

Lucifer’s grin could have lit the stars. “I like this idea, Detective.”

Chloe gave him a small but genuine smile and straightened her back, bringing a professional expression to her face. “But, for now, we have work to do.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, giving her a lecherous grin.

Chloe rolled her eyes and started walking towards the precinct. Lucifer grinned and followed.

Their good mood soured somewhat once Chloe started digging through her paperwork. “Kent Carlton is due back at 2. Harry Carlton and his lawyer are due at 3:30, and we just don’t have enough to lock him away.” Chloe flipped angrily to the next page. “We don’t have a single bit of solid evidence tying Harry to Kassie’s death."

“No prints on the baseball bat?” Lucifer asked, playing with a pen.

Chloe shook her head. “It isn’t beyond a reasonable doubt. It’ll give me enough to hold him though. But we need a confession to get a conviction.”

After ten minutes of paperwork filled with angry glares and huffs, Chloe finally turned to Lucifer. “How’s it work?”

“How does what work?”

“The desire thing. I need to know how mine works. The accountant didn’t tell me what he desired, he told me the truth, even though he had no desire to do so. I need to know how to make it work.”

Lucifer tapped his fingers on her desk in thought. “We need a guinea pig.” He saw Chloe’s eyes flicker to Dan and then back to her own work, a frustrated expression on her face. “Excellent idea, Detective!” He stood up, “Douche! The Detective needs your help!

“Sit down,” Chloe hissed, pulling on Lucifer’s jacket sleeve. “I’m not going to go up to Dan and say, ‘Excuse me, can the Devil and I poke around inside your brain while I work on my angelic powers?’ He’ll never say yes, and I’m _not_ going to ask him.”

“Of course not, Detective. You’re right. I’ll ask him.”

_“Lucifer!”_

“Ask me what?” Dan said, approaching them warily.

“Your ex-wife wants to poke around inside your head to figure out how her angelic powers work so she can get a confession out of a murdering former jock.”

Dan’s eyes grew wide. “Can I say no?"

“Of course,” Chloe said, glaring at Lucifer.

“You could, but it would certainly be helpful if she could figure out how it works instead of hoping for a fluke like what happened in the accountant’s office,” Lucifer said with a grin.

Dan considered for a moment. “Is that what happened? Why he suddenly turned on Harry?”

“Yup,” Lucifer said. “We just need to figure out what exactly she can pull out of people. For me, it’s desire. For the Detective, though, it’s different.”

“Guilt?” Chloe asked.

Lucifer shook his head. “I don’t think it’s guilt. I don’t think that idiot felt at all guilty that Kassie was dead and that Harry swung the bat.”

“You’re right. Confession…” she said quietly. “I think it has something to do with confessions. Maybe secrets? Sins?” She turned to Lucifer, a question in her eyes.

“Maybe. Only one way to find out.”

An Angel and the Devil turned their eyes to Dan. “This is so screwed up,” he muttered. “Are you telling me that my ex-wife has the ability to pull out my darkest secrets?”

Chloe shrugged. Lucifer grinned. 

“Can’t you use someone with a bit less crap?”

“Confession is good for the soul, Douche.”

Dan glared at the both of them, Chloe, looking apprehensive but hopeful, and Lucifer, looking smug and excited. “I hate you both right now. Let’s go to the basement.”

*****

Dan walked a few feet behind Chloe and Lucifer on their trek to the basement. When he'd come to this room yesterday, he'd been in the dark. Today, he willingly walked behind the Devil into the musty depths of the basement. 

He must be insane.

Last night, after leaving Chloe's, he'd prayed for the first time in years. He asked God what to do. Trusting Chloe was easy. But he didn't trust Lucifer even before he knew he was the Devil. After God was a no show in divine intervention, he prayed to Charlotte.

He'd asked her so many things. Should he be mad at Lucifer for his part in her death? Should he believe his ex-wife when she told him that everything was okay? 

If he knocked that smug grin off Lucifer's face, would it actually hurt the bastard or would he just break his hand?

Charlotte didn't reply either, but just the act of talking to her and imagining her reply gave him the bit of peace he needed to follow the Devil into an underground room with only one exit.

Charlotte had been all about redemption. And, if Lucifer was to be believed, he and Amenadiel helped her get it.

Maybe the Devil wasn't all bad.

But Dan still wanted to punch him.

As he followed them down, he watched the two celestial beings in front of him. They were having a quiet whispered argument, but he noticed that whenever one looked away, the other would give them a doofy doe eyed stare. "I take it you two made up?" Dan asked, slightly amused.

"Who said we were fighting?" Lucifer said.

"Chloe's good at hiding her anger, but remember, I went through a divorce with her."

Chloe rolled her eyes, ignored him and opened the door to the basement storeroom. "Okay. Lucifer, tell me how your mojo works."

Lucifer shrugged. "I don't know. It just does. I never really had to think about it."

Chloe looked at him, chewing her lip. "What does it feel like?"

"You did it once. What did it feel like to you?"

Chloe gave a sideways glance to Dan, as if gauging if this would be too weird. "Just say it, Chloe. I'm here to help," Dan reassured her.

She sighed, tightening her ponytail. "It felt like he was mine. Anything that I needed, he _had_ to provide. I needed information, he gave it to me. It just, I don't know. It just clicked."

Lucifer nodded. “It’s pretty much the same for me. The words don’t matter. I could be reading the phonebook to someone and still get them to tell me their desires. It’s the emotion behind it that does it. And a person’s desires aren’t static. For instance, if I am entertaining a lovely lady or gentleman, and I ask them what they desire, they’ll tell me that they want me to suck their cock or play with their breasts or pound them into the mattress. And, of course, the Devil is happy to fulfill their desires,” Lucifer smirked. Chloe rolled her eyes. Dan’s jaw dropped. “But, if you ask that same person what they desired while their child was dying in a hospital, their answer would be quite different.”

“Aren’t you two, like, a thing now or something? Why are you talking about bedding other people?” Dan asked.

“He’s still Lucifer,” Chloe sighed. 

“So, is it an open relationship?”

“Dan!” Chloe said, blushing now. “Seriously!”

Lucifer shifted to stand beside Dan. “Now, I’m curious, Detective,” he said with a smile.

Chloe turned beet red. "We have work to do. Grow up.” Chloe straightened her back. “When I talked to Gabe the sleazebag accountant, I wanted the truth. I wanted to know what happened to Kassie. I thought he could give me that.”

“Okay,” Lucifer said. “Guinea Pig, go sit on the couch.”

“I have a name,” Dan grumbled.

“Apologies. Douche, go sit on the couch.” Lucifer pulled a wobbly chair from the pile of debris in the back of the room and sat it in front of Dan. “Okay, Detective. Let’s see if you can pull the truth from the Douche.”

Chloe shot a glare at Lucifer and sat down across from Dan. Her brow furrowed. “Dan, tell me the truth.”

“The truth is that this is insane,” Dan grumbled.

“It didn’t work,” she said, turning to Lucifer. 

“Maybe you need to ask him a specific question?”

“Okay,” Chloe said, locking eyes with Dan again. “What was the craziest sexual thing you’ve ever done?”

Lucifer shuddered. “I don’t want to know the answer to that.”

“Nope. Not bearing my soul about that. Sorry, Chlo, that would just be awkward.”

Chloe huffed in frustration.

“Maybe it isn’t truth, Detective. But something that gets you the truth. My gift gets people to tell the truth, but it’s what they desire, not just some random trivia question.”

“Okay,” Chloe nodded. “That makes sense. So, when I asked the accountant about Kassie, I wanted to solve the puzzle. I wanted to find her killer, I wanted….”

“Justice,” Dan said. “You wanted justice.” He gave a little laugh. “That’s perfect, isn’t it? Perfect for you. The walking aphrodisiac over here gets desire. But Chloe Decker, the cop, the one always fighting for the voiceless, she craves justice.”

Chloe felt it. Dan was right. “You ready?” she said to Dan.

“Yeah, hit me with it.”

Chloe locked eyes with him, and she felt it click. She knew the second that she had him. “What have you done that you haven’t paid for, Dan?”

Dan’s eyes glazed over and his expression slackened. “I cheated on you when we were married.”

Chloe blinked and looked at Lucifer. “I did it!”

Lucifer grinned at her. “You did it!”

Dan shook his head. Suddenly his eyes went wide with fear. Chloe’s smile faded from her face and she whipped back to Daniel. “Wait, you did _what?”_

“I’m sorry, Chloe! It was right before we separated. We had a fight. You made me feel like crap,”

“So this is _my_ fault?” Chloe stood up, knocking the chair to the ground.

“No!” Dan sputtered, holding up his hands. He turned to Lucifer, who was grinning in amusement. “Help me out here, dude!”

“It’s kind of arousing to see her yelling at someone who isn’t me."

Chloe, meanwhile, was doing everything in her power to keep her eyes from glowing red. “So we had a fight and you decided to, what, go to the bar and bang some random chick?”

“No! It wasn’t like that! I felt bad. I came to work. Susan from Vice was comforting me, and one thing led to another…”

 _“YOU SLEPT WITH SUSAN FROM VICE?”_ And now her eyes were red. She took an angry step towards him, and Dan scrambled away from her.

“Excellent choice, Daniel! Did she do that thing with her tongue where she just licked…” Lucifer began.

“And you!” Chloe yelled, turning her red eyed gaze towards Lucifer. “I get that you’ve probably slept with most of my coworkers, male and female, but you don’t have to tell me about it!”

“He hasn’t slept with me,” Dan said. 

“No! For you it was just _Susan from Vice!_ While we were _married!”_

“I’m sorry, Chloe! But your trick worked, right? So that’s good?”

“Daniel’s right,” Lucifer wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her away from Dan. “You’re scaring the human.” Chloe glared at him again. “Eyes?”

Chloe closed her eyes, took a breath in, held it, shifted her eyes and let the breath out slowly. “You’re right,” she said to Lucifer. “Your right, Dan. I’m sorry. Thank you for helping.”

Daniel looked back and forth between the angel and the Devil, trying to decide which one was scarier.

Chloe. Definitely Chloe.

“Um, so, what’s the deal with the, um…” he gestured vaguely at his eyes.

“She’s the Queen of Hell,” Lucifer said, as if he was stating that the sky was blue.

“Do your eyes…?”

Lucifer let a flash of red cross his irises.

Dan gave a little shudder. 

“What was that you said about not scaring the human?” Chloe.

“Well, he asked.”

“Any other weird body tricks that I haven’t seen yet?” Dan asked nervously.

Chloe grinned. “Lucifer has pretty fluffy white Christmas tree topper angel wings. And his hair is curly. Put the wings and the ringlets together, and he looks like every stereotypical Renaissance painting of an angel in existence.”

“I posed for one painting one time, and suddenly everyone thinks that all angels look like me,” Lucifer grumbled.

“I love your pretty poofy white wings,” Chloe said with a grin.

“Mmmm,” Lucifer purred. “Personally I prefer wings the color of flames that look like the most perfect sunset.”

Chloe looked up at him with hooded eyes. “Wing kink?”

Lucifer grinned, “Maybe.”

“Okay, I’m going to vomit,” Dan said. Chloe took a step back from Lucifer, adjusting her blazer. Dan gave a little cough. “Shouldn’t it be sacrilegious or something? Using angel wings for sex?”

“Devil,” Lucifer said, pointing to himself.

“Good point.”

“It’s almost two, anyway. Kent should be here any minute.” Chloe held her hand out to Dan, pulling him from the couch. “Thank you, Dan. Really. You didn’t have to do that.”

Dan smiled and took her hand. 

As the three of them returned to the bullpen, Susan from Vice walked past, a file in her hand. “Hey Dan,” she said with a wink. Then turned to Lucifer, a flirtatious grin crossing her face. “Hello, Lucifer.” Chloe bit her lip to keep from saying something petty.

But if looks could kill, Susan from Vice would have been a pile of ash on the precinct floor.


	12. Justified

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The case concludes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it. This is my monster chapter. The one I was dreading. It turned out much better than I thought it would when it first sprouted from my fingertips, and that is ENTIRLY due to the help of Savagita and NotOneLine. Seriously, this chapter was a mess when I first wrote it, and thanks to their help, it became what you see today. Thank you so much to the both of you!
> 
> Any gramatical errors are 100% my fault, though.
> 
> I do wish to say here that almost everything I know about police work comes from a TV show about the Devil. Apologies in advance for anything that I mess up.
> 
> Chapter count bumped up again. One upcoming chapter got split into three parts and I've added a second interlude as the penultimate chapter. But this should be it! ...I hope... Honestly, I'm almost done writing this thing. If another chapter springs up on me at this point, I'll be shocked.
> 
> This is the longest chapter that I've written to date. I hope y'all don't mind :)

Kent arrived 10 minutes early, his eyes red-rimmed and his nose stuffy. They chose not to speak with him in the interrogation room. The first thing he did when Dan motioned him into the conference room was to say, “Am I not a suspect?” There was hope in his eyes.

Chloe shook her head. “We just have a few follow up questions. Have a seat, Mr Carlton.” She and Dan sat across from him, Lucifer taking the spot at the head of the table.

“Can you tell us about you and your father’s relationship?”

Kent’s eyes went wide. “I love my father,” he said, almost defensively.

“Does he love you?” Lucifer said, raising one eyebrow.

“Of course,” Kent stuttered. “He was demanding, of course, but all fathers are.”

Lucifer scoffed. “I know all about having a demanding father.”

At that moment, it clicked for Dan that Lucifer’s father was God. He shot a slightly panicked look at Chloe. She felt him tense up beside her and rested a hand on his leg to calm him. “Did your relationship with your father change after Justin’s death?”

Kent let out a sigh. “Everything changed after Justin’s death. Mom left. She wasn’t,” he pulled in a shaky breath, “she wasn’t strong enough, Dad said. He was distant for a while after that. But, when Kassie started making apps, he got the idea for SoberRide and everything changed.”

“Suddenly, you were useful to him. Or, more accurately, your wife was. Tell me,” Lucifer said, leaning in. “Did your father show favoritism while Justin was alive?”

“No!” Kent insisted, too fast. “What does any of this have to do with Kassie, anyway?”

Chloe opened her file and pulled out the sheet on top. “Can you tell me about this, Mr. Carlton?”

Kent picked up the piece of paper and scanned it. “Uh, it’s an incident report. The insurance makes us keep them. We fill them out for everything. Someone gets a papercut, there’s an incident report. Two people spat over the coffee creamer, there’s an incident report. Between my dad and Kassie, though?” Kent's eyes scanned over the document.

“You weren’t there?”

“No. Janice, our receptionist, filled this out.” 

“And Kassie never mentioned it to you?”

Kent paused before answering. “She never spoke to me about it.” Chloe saw Lucifer raise his eyebrows. He caught the same thing that she had. That wasn’t the complete truth.

“Did your father say anything?”

Kent was silent for a second before answering. “We haven’t been on the best terms lately.”

“Because of the sale?”

Kent shook his head. “It was before that. After our driver killed the woman…”

“Your father blamed you,” Lucifer supplied.

Kent’s eyes shot to Lucifer’s. “It’s been a struggle with him for quite awhile.” Kent took a deep breath. “What does any of this have to do with Kassie?

“We’re just trying to get some background, Mr. Carlton,” Chloe shuffled the papers in front of her and laid a black and white photograph in front of Kent. “Can you identify this object?”

“That’s my brother’s bat. Before that, it was my dad’s. When Justin was playing for school, he didn’t use this one, of course. But if he and Dad were playing in the backyard, this was the one they used. What’s on it, though? But Dad doesn't use it anymore. He’d never let it get dirty.”

“Did your father keep it at his house?” Chloe asked kindly.

Kent nodded. “He kept it in a glass case over the mantle.”

“Would there be any reason for him to keep it in Justin’s room?”

Kent shrugged. “I don’t think so. After Justin died, the only place I ever saw the bat was in that glass case.”

Chloe pulled out another photograph. It was the bat in Justin’s closet, partially wrapped in a black plastic bag. This photograph was in color, so it was easy to tell what caused the stain. “Is that…?”

“We have evidence to indicate that this was what was used to kill Kassie.”

Kent picked up the photograph with shaking hands. “Where did you find this?” he whispered.

“In Justin’s closet," Dan said.

“Do you think… my dad…?”

“Finding the bat in his home certainly looks suspicious,” Lucifer said.

“But it’s not 100%,” Chloe added. “We were hoping you could tell us about your father’s relationship with Kassie.”

Kent was white as a sheet, staring at the image of his wife’s blood on his brother’s bat. Chloe watched his expression shift from shock, to anger. “How about I let Kassie tell you? I found this in her underwear drawer this morning. She wrote about the fight with my dad in here.” He pulled a small journal from his bag. “She never told me she kept a journal.” he whispered. As he held it out to Chloe, though, he stopped. “Will I get this back? It has her last words.”

Chloe locked eyes with him, a sympathetic smile tugging at her cheeks. “Of course. We’ll have to keep it for evidence for a bit, but, you’ll get it back.”

Kent nodded and pressed the journal into Chloe’s hand. “Take good care of this.”

“I will. Thank you, Mr. Carlton. Can you wait here for a few minutes while we look over this?”

Kent nodded.

“Thank you. I’ll have Detective Espinoza come back in to sit with you in a moment.”

Chloe got up, journal in hand and walked out of the conference room, Dan and Lucifer trailing behind her. She walked into Ella’s lab and opened the journal. Dan leaned over one of her shoulders, and Lucifer over the other.

It appeared that Kassie began the journal around the time one of their drivers hit and killed a woman.

The first entry clearly displayed her need to vent: 

_ I can’t believe that Kent screwed this up. How could he do this to us? To everything we built? I thought that I could trust him to take care of this... _

A few pages later was the first mention of Harry:

_ Kent’s dad came over for dinner tonight. I threw him out before we even had a chance to eat. As pissed as I am at Kent, Harry had no right to come into my home and say what he said to his son... _

Her journal entries during the lawsuit were sparse:

_ I have to keep this journal hidden. I don’t think there’s anything incriminating here, but, just to be safe… _

That would explain why Kent never found it. However, during the sale of the company, she went on for pages and pages. 

_ I want to do what is right. Kent will never sell. His father will see to that. The manipulative bastard gives him just enough love to keep him in line and... _

_ This is the hardest decision that I’ll ever make, but... _

_ This could end my marriage, however… _

_ Hopefully, Kent will come to see that this is the only way…. _

_ Kent was so mad when I told him. He never gets mad. It felt like my heart was ripped from my chest... _

_ I hope I made the right decision.  _

Chloe’s flipped through the pages, her heart breaking for Kassie. Finally, she came to the fight with Harry.

_ Harry came by the office today. Kent wasn’t there. I’d seen his anger before, but this was something new. It almost felt like he was blaming me for Justin’s death. He brought me a newspaper clipping of a woman who died a few days ago after being hit by someone with a BAC three times the legal limit. He blamed me for her death too, and he’s not entirely wrong. Maybe I could have worked harder. I don’t know. But Harry scares me. I’m just glad that I wasn’t alone when he came by. I’d like to talk to Kent about keeping Harry out of our lives, but things are just so weird between us right now… _

Finally, she came to the last entry, dated the day before Kassie’s death.

_ I’m sitting in bed next to Kent right now, watching him sleep. He looks so peaceful. I miss that expression on his face. I've been watching him sleep a lot lately. All I can see when I close my eyes was how his face looked when I told him about the sale. It looked like I took something vital from him and destroyed it. It's been haunting my dreams every night, so, instead of sleeping, I watch him rest, and hope that someday, I can get the image of his pain out of my head. _

_ I don't think I ever will, but I will spend the rest of my life trying to make up for hurting him. I want to make him smile again. I want to make him happy. _

_ We made up tonight, and we made love. I know we have a long road ahead of us, but I’m so grateful that we took the first step. I won't disappoint him again. _

_ He just whispered my name in his sleep. He wrapped his arm around my waist. _

_ It feels wonderful _

_ We'll talk tomorrow. And the next day, and the next, and we'll make it through. I've already got new ideas in my head about new ways we can fight back against drunk driving. Or maybe we can start something new. I've been wanting to lend a hand to domestic abuse victims for a while now. We could branch out. _

_ I hope it's enough to heal the wounds that I've caused. _

Chloe couldn't decide if she wanted to cry or track down Harry Carlton and beat him bloody. Her body was tensed like a live wire, and keeping a hold of the emotions coursing through her was taking every ounce of willpower that she possessed. She was vaguely aware of Dan and Lucifer having a conversation around her, but all she could do was try not to burst open at the seams. She wasn't even aware that her eyes had turned red until Lucifer lightly pressed a hand to her shoulder. "Detective?" he said softly. "You're scaring Daniel again." Her eyes snapped to Dan then back to Lucifer.

"She didn't deserve to die," Chloe said through clenched teeth. "She had so much good to give the world, and that  _ monster  _ took her chance away. He took her choice away. We can fix this, Lucifer."

Lucifer stepped in front of her, gently taking her by the shoulders. "Detective, we will work within your system. We will get justice for Kassie. Harry will spend the rest of his life in jail."

"What about what comes after?" she said, her voice low and dangerous. "Will he get what he deserves then? What about Kassie? Is she being punished right now for her guilt?"

Lucifer stroked a hand down the side of her face. "Chloe, vengeance isn't justice. The three of us will make sure that Kassie gets justice on Earth," he took her chin in his hand and brought her red gaze up to his own crimson eyes. "And then you and I will handle the rest."

Chloe gave him a grim, determined smile and nodded. 

"Now," he said, releasing her chin and smiling, "the Devil is supposed to be whispering in your ear, telling you to do all kinds of horrible, wretched things, not urging you to practice restraint. I fear we may be disappointing dear Daniel. However will the choir boy handle his illusions of the Devil being so thoroughly shattered?"

Chloe gave him a smile and her eyes faded back to blue. She turned to Dan. "I'm sorry, Dan."

Dan cleared his throat. "My illusions got shattered with the idea of angel wings as sex toys. Chloe, can you handle this interview?"

"Body parts aren't sex toys, Daniel," Lucifer scoffed.

Chloe placed a hand on Lucifer's arm to quiet him. "Yeah. I'm just going to…" she motioned vaguely towards the bathroom and walked from the room.

Leaving Dan with the Devil. Wonderful. He turned to Satan, a thought on his mind. "Give me a one sentence description of your job," he said.

Lucifer blinked twice, then gave a smarmy grin. "I consult Detective Chloe Jane Decker with the LAPD."

"Not that job."

"I am the owner of Lux."

"Not that one either."

Lucifer leaned back against Ella's table, taking ownership of his space. He raised his head and gave a regal tilt to his eyebrows. "That’s it. I’m retired from my old job. Or maybe I’m on sabbatical. I’m not quite sure to be honest.”

“Quit dicking me around, man, you know what I’m asking.”

“Well, I was the King of Hell. Am? Will someday be again? It’s not important.” Lucifer shrugged it off and gave Dan a somewhat predatory grin.

Dan took a breath in. "That's a title. What do you actually do?"

"I make sure that those who are guilty are punished," he said, his grin turning from predatory to downright malicious.

"Stop with the creepy crap, Lucifer."

Lucifer raised one eyebrow and shifted his eyes to red. Dan closed his eyes, willed down his fear and counted to ten. When he opened them again, he looked less scared and more annoyed. "If you don't want to tell me, fine, but don't try and scare me off because you don't want to give me a straight answer."

Lucifer held his regal pose for another few seconds and then collapsed. "My reputation is ruined," he grumbled.

"Sorry, dude. Chloe is way scarier than you right now."

"Tell her that," Lucifer grumbled. "She'll be thrilled. Why the morbid curiosity, Daniel?"

"I'm wondering how close it is to your job here on Earth."

"More booze, more sex and better company on Earth," he quipped. 

Dan rolled his eyes at him. “Come on.”

Lucifer sighed, rolling his eyes. “Culpae poenae par esto, Detective Douche.” 

Dan just looked lost. “I don’t speak whatever that was.

“Latin, Daniel! You’re an officer of the law and you don’t know this? I’m disappointed in you. It means ‘Make the punishment fit the crime.’ I like to make things fair.” 

"So, working for the police honestly wasn't much of a stretch for you," Dan said thoughtfully.

"There’s less paperwork in Hell.”

"But your idea of punishment differs from that of the US justice system?" 

Lucifer nodded. "If left to my own devices, I would probably spice things up a bit, yes."

Dan didn't want to know what Lucifer considered spicy. "So why do you follow our rules?”

Lucifer tilted his head, confused. "I’ll get the guilty in the end. I can wait. And the Detective is rather strict about the rules. Bit of a buzz kill, really."

Dan nodded. Lucifer didn’t say it, but Dan could read between the lines. He played along because it made Chloe happy. "Is she in control of herself right now?"

Lucifer sighed and looked towards Chloe's desk. "It's been a hard week, and Chloe closely identifies with this victim."

"Why?"

"I'm not going to answer that, Daniel."

"What did she do to you?"

Lucifer felt his gaze turn cold and dark. He turned his eyes towards Daniel, dropping his voice. "It's forgiven, Daniel. It’s no longer important."

Okay, that was a bit scary. Dan took a small shaky breath in. "If the two of you go into that investigation room with Harry Carlton, can you keep her in check if she goes off the rails?"

Lucifer leaned back, shocked. "The Detective would never do anything that would jeopardize a case."

"Are you sure? It just seems like she has a lot of… issues... floating around in her brain right now. I would hate for Harry Carlton to get off on a technicality. She doesn't need that with whatever else she’s dealing with."

Finally, Lucifer got what Daniel was working towards. "You have my word, Daniel. I'll assist her today in whatever she needs, even if that means holding her back."

Daniel nodded. "Okay."

***** 

Dan was sitting in the conference room getting additional background information from Kent Carlton when Harry was brought in. When Kent caught sight of his father, he quickly stood and walked to the doorway. As father and son caught each other's eye, Dan put his hand lightly on Kent's elbow and whispered, "Let them get a confession. Don't strike out at your dad. Just let them do their job. Okay?"

Kent nodded. He glared at his father as he passed, his lawyer in tow.

Harry did not smile at his son in greeting, he didn't look ashamed. He simply seemed somewhat annoyed with his son's presence.

"He hates me, Detective Espinosa."

Dan gave his back a single pat. "Do you want to wait here or would you like to watch the interrogation."

"I need to watch."

Chloe stood behind a pillar as Harry was led into the interrogation room. She could observe the procession without being seen. She heard Kent and Dan's conversation, and saw the dismissive look the father gave his youngest son. The "failure." Chloe's eyes glowed red in the darkened alcove. Harry needed to be brought to justice. He needed  _ punishment. _

Lucifer watched his Detective, and found himself in a very strange position: being the responsible one. Chloe brought that out of him. Over and over again, when she was weak, he unconsciously became strong for her, starting with the evening that she wandered into his penthouse drunk and made a pass at him and continuing on to this very moment. And Daniel was right. Chloe was on the edge. If she botched this interview, not only would this douchebag of a parent walk free, but Chloe would hold onto that guilt. She already had enough guilt on her plate from poor decisions. 

He watched her glowing red eyes follow Harry into the interrogation room. She looked stunning in her boring ensemble with Hellfire glowing in her eyes, like the avenging angel that she was. Justice would be hers, he could feel it. And, oh, how he loved seeing her get it. The look on her face as she watched her prey, like a tiger about to strike, was doing rather uncomfortable things to his anatomy. But, he was being a responsible Devil today. He tried his very best to ignore the tightening in his slacks as he walked over to her.

He picked up her left hand and gently stroked where she once held a scar that was the result of a split second poor decision. "Chloe, don't make a bad choice because it feels right in the moment." Lucifer raised the scar-free hand to his lips. "Make good decisions. Kassie deserves justice, and she needs you to be at your best to get it."

She turned that angry red glare towards him. “You’re one to talk.”

Lucifer’s lips twitched… among other body parts. “Detective, you can get him to confess, of this I have no doubt, but you need to remain in control of yourself in order to do it.”

He watched the hellfire sputter and retreat from her gaze. "You're right." She took a deep breath in, held it for ten seconds and released it. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” he said with a dazzling smile.

Chloe gave his hand a small squeeze and walked towards the interrogation room, her head held high.

Dan and Kent took their places behind the glass once Harry and his lawyer were seated in interrogation. Dan felt his pulse hammering in his ears as Chloe and Lucifer entered the room.

Chloe was every bit the seasoned professional as she sat, silent, ruffling through papers as she waited for Harry Carlton or his lawyer to speak. Lucifer sat next to her, a smirk on his face.

After a solid minute of being ignored by Chloe, the lawyer and Harry both started to fidget. The lawyer spoke first, "My client objects to this treatment by the LAPD. You have no solid evidence linking him to the scene of the crime, except for an old baseball bat that 'supposedly’ belonged to one of Mr Carlton's children and somehow magically appeared in his home. Mr. Carlton has no motivation for this murder. He gains nothing from Kassie Carlton’s death. There are many people out there with far more motivation to end that poor woman’s life than my client. I am unclear on why you even insisted on this interview.” 

Chloe hadn't looked up from her papers yet. When it seemed like the lawyer was done grandstanding, she pulled a photocopy of Kassie’s journal out of her folder and placed it in front of Harry.

"Kassie Carlton wrote this in her journal after a conversation with you, Mr. Carlton. Can you tell me about this incident?"

Harry turned to his lawyer, a smug expression on his face. "I told you she didn't have anything.” Looking back towards Chloe, he said, “As much as it pains me to say it again, the person you should be looking into is Kent.” He looked down at the photocopied journal entry, taking a second to read over it. Chloe remained silent, watching his expression as he read Kassie’s words. “This is your proof? A diary entry? This doesn’t prove anything. I don’t even know why I’m here being interviewed by a nightclub owner and a washed up softcore porn actress.”

The lawyer pulled Harry aside and whispered, "Don't antagonize them. They have enough to hold you."

The King and Queen of Hell exchanged a brief smile at that. "Mr. Carlton," Chloe began. "How would you describe your relationship with Kassie?"

He leaned back in his chair and shot a pointed glance towards Chloe's chest. She could practically feel him mentally undressing her. "My relationship with Kassie was just...fine." He gave Chloe a lecherous grin, while never meeting her eyes. 

Lucifer began to rise from his chair, but Chloe put a hand on his arm, holding him back. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent off a quick text. She sat in silence, flipping through paperwork while the two men across from her glared.

A few minutes later, Dan walked into the room. He placed Justin's bloody baseball bat on the table. He raised an eyebrow to Chloe, silently asking if she was okay. Chloe nodded.

"Tell me about the bat, Mr. Carlton,” Chloe said

Harry’s eyes had widened at the sight of his most treasured posession/murder weapon. He reached one hand towards it before his lawyer leaned forward and put his hand over Harry’s. “It’s a bat. Mr. Carlton doesn’t know how it got in Justin’s closet, but he would like to point out that Kent does have a key to Mr. Carlton’s home.”

Chloe turned to Harry again. “Look at me, Mr. Carlton.” She waited until Harry’s eyes locked with her own. “Tell me about the bat.”

Harry’s eyes glazed over. "Louisville Slugger. Maple. It was my 10th birthday present. I gave it to Justin when he turned 10."

"Not to Kent? He is the older sibling."

Harry shook his head and looked away from Chloe. "Kent wanted a violin," he said with a sneer. “Justin was into baseball.”

Lucifer leaned in now. “Kent was a disappointment to you, wasn’t he, Mr. Carlton? Not big and strong like Daddy?”

Harry turned a glare towards Lucifer. “Justin was more like me.”

“I bet it incensed you that Justin was killed and Kent lived. But you needed Kent, didn’t you? Someone to help you keep a piece of the son you loved alive. So you manipulated him. Gave him just enough love to keep him where you wanted him. Then, when the app went away, you killed Kassie, and threw Kent under the bus because you no longer had a need for him.”

“That’s speculation,” the lawyer cut in. “If you don’t have anything else…” he shuffled a few papers and began to stand.

In the observation room, Dan watched as Kent’s face turned to red. “What? That’s it? He just leaves?” Kent asked, shocked.

“Just wait,” Dan said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Wait for it. They’ll figure this out.” 

Turning his eyes back to the interrogation, he saw Chloe give a small, predatory smile.

“Just one more question before you go, Mr. Carlton,” she said, her voice taking on a hard edge. Harry rolled his eyes skyward, and then looked back at Chloe’s chest. Chloe’s grin got a bit wider. “Eyes up here, Mr. Carlton.”

With a sigh, Harry let his eyes meet Chloe’s again. 

“Kassie made a mistake, one that I’m sure she regrets. Someone decided to take justice into their own hands and end her life. Justice isn’t the killer’s job. It’s mine. So, tell me, Mr. Carlton, who ended Kassie’s life?” Chloe had him, but he was fighting her. She leaned in closer, “You have information I need to do my job, Mr. Carlton. Tell me.”

He took in a hitched breath and panic darkened his gaze. Finally he blurted out. “I killed her. I meant to scare her, but once I was in front of her, with Justin’s bat in my hand, I had to swing. And I couldn’t stop.” Chloe blinked and turned to Lucifer, who gave her a small, proud grin.

Mr. Carlton shook his head, his eyes growing wide. Next to him, his lawyer was giving him a look of complete shock.

Dan let out a sigh of relief as Kent collapsed into his chair, his head in his hands. Dan watched as Chloe handcuffed Harry and read him his rights. She looked a bit shell shocked, but triumphant. 

“Mr. Carlton,” Lucifer broke in. “Did you mean to frame Kent from the beginning, or were you just willing to watch your son go down for murder if it kept you out of jail?”

“Does it matter?” Harry winced as Chloe tightened his cuffs. 

Lucifer pointed at Chloe. “It matters to her. And I’m sure it matters a great deal to your son.”

"Mr. Carlton," the lawyer broke in, "I must advise you to remain silent."

But Harry shook his head, finally showing a bit of guilt. “Kent isn’t Justin. Justin was  _ mine. _ And God took him from me, leaving me with Kent. All I asked Kent to do was keep Justin’s memory alive. He was supposed to be honoring his brother, then he screwed it up and then just sat back while that  _ bitch  _ tarnished his memory. We were trying to build something good, to remember Justin, and Kent just threw it all away,” Harry said spitefully. “He needed to pay for what he did to my son. They both did.”

Lucifer scoffed. “So you tried to destroy the life of the son you had to try and ‘honor’ the memory of the son you lost.”

Chloe shook her head in disgust and whispered in Harry’s ear. “May God have mercy on your soul, Harry Carlton. Because I won’t.” She walked out of the interrogation room and waived two uniformed officers in to take Harry to a holding cell.

Dan and Kent came out of the observation room. Chloe took Kent’s hand. “I’m so sorry for your loss, Kent. And I’m sorry it was your father that did it.”

Kent watched his father being led away. Harry’s eyes met Kent’s for a second. There was no guilt in his expression now, only ire. Kent shuddered. “Dad wasn’t right after Justin died. He never got over it. I just wished that I could have protected her. I’m her husband. It was my job.”

She felt tears well up in her own eyes. “Kent, you can’t blame yourself. There’s no way you could have known this would happen.”

“I should have….”

Chloe squeezed his hand harder, bringing his gaze back to her eyes. “We got justice for Kassie today with your help.” Chloe felt her gift kick in. Words flowed from her, almost without conscience thought. “You cannot let your guilt pull you down, Kent. Your father is the only one who should pay for this crime, not you. Your wife loved you. Deeply. And I have no doubt that you will find a way to make a difference in her memory.”

Kent’s eyes held hers for a second, then the glazed expression left his face. “You’re right, Detective. Thank you.” He gave her a small smile and let Dan lead him back into the conference room.

Lucifer grabbed Chloe's elbow and took her back to her desk. Once they were seated, he leaned over to her. “Did you just do what I think you did?”

She nodded, watching through the glass as Dan comforted Kent. “Blaming himself for Kassie’s death wouldn’t be just. He doesn’t need to hold onto that.”

Lucifer leaned back, impressed. “Blimey, you should go into business with Linda. Between the two of you, you could save more souls from Hell than the church.”

She gave him a small smile and shuffled the papers in her case file. A line of worry still remained etched between her eyebrows.

“What is it, Detective?”

She closed the file and looked up.“It doesn’t feel like it’s over, Lucifer.”

“It is, Detective. You got the bad guy. Figured out how your powers worked. Happy ending! Let’s celebrate!”

She smiled, shaking her head. “I feel like I’m missing something, though. Something that needs to be handled still. Something’s off.”

Lucifer tilted his head to the side. “What feels wrong, Detective?”

“It doesn’t make any sense. I can’t explain it.” She shook her head, as if trying to wipe away bad thoughts. “Linda and Maze are at my house with Trixie. It’s time to come clean with her. I’ll worry about the rest later.”

Lucifer nodded. “Do you want me there?”

“Do you want to be there?”

“Depends on what’s for dinner.”

Chloe laughed. “Dan’s bringing Chinese takeout. I figured we’d have too much on our plates to deal with making a meal.”

Lucifer gave a theatrical sigh. “I suppose I can make due. I’m going to stop by Lux before I head over. See you in two hours?”

Chloe nodded. “See you then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No justice, no peace.  
> Know justice, know peace.


	13. Confirmed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A family dinner. Trixie eats cake.

“I don’t need this crap right now,” Chloe muttered under her breath. The kid behind the bakery counter was attractive in that certain Southern California way that screamed “I’m an aspiring actor.” He was the type of guy that wouldn’t have given her the time of day before her divine makeover. But, this little punk’s eyes were roaming over her body in a possessive way that screamed “DTF.” 

“Do you come here often?” he leered.

The truth was that this muscle bound, suntanned kid had handed her Trixie’s favorite cake at least three times before. But that was before. Now, suddenly, she was visible to him. 

Chloe hated it.

“I’ll take the whole cake, please,” she said, handing over her credit card. “It’s for my daughter.” Her wings gave an irritated twitch in her back. 

The grin on his face dipped for only a second before coming back. “I’d be more than happy to, um, give you a tour of the back room if you’d like. It’s where the magic happens.” He flashed what he probably thought was a winning smile. But, to Chloe, it just looked predatory.

“Just the cake. I’m in a bit of a rush.”

“Got it,” he grinned. “Hopefully I’ll see you back soon,” he looked down at the name on her credit card, “Chloe. A lovely name.”

“Thanks,” she said dryly, signing the credit card receipt and walking out the door. Chloe debated on if it would be worth it to risk Trixie’s wrath and find a new bakery just to avoid the gawking. Maybe a bakery run by a blind female octogenarian who was a 0 on the Kinsey scale.

Chloe had a battle going on in her head at the moment over what was stressing her out more: the feeling that something was missing from her case, or the upcoming conversation with Trixie. No one else seemed to be concerned about the case, and everyone seemed to think that Trixie would be just fine. She was probably overreacting. 

She tried to force her brain into mentally preparing for her conversation with Trixie, but the words from Kassie’s journal kept swimming through her mind. The journal had been filled with both guilt and hope. Chloe wished there was enough of the latter to combat the former. But, as her recent dabbles in betrayal proved, guilt wasn’t something that just magically disappeared. Thoughts of Kassie gnawed at her. Something was missing. Something needed to be done.

No. Don't worry about Kassie. Trixie. Trixie was the most important person right now. The most important person ever. Everything else could wait. 

As she pulled into her driveway, she realized that she was the last person to arrive. Chocolate cake in hand, she opened her front door. 

Lucifer, Maze and Linda were in the kitchen, picking over takeout containers. Dan was on the floor of the living room, helping Trixie with her homework, and, either consciously or unconsciously keeping himself between his daughter and the Devil and the demon in the next room. Trixie’s eyes brightened when she saw the bakery box in her mother’s hands. “Mom! You got me my favorite!” She jumped up, taking the cake from her mother and placing it on the kitchen counter. Dan jerked up as her daughter handed the cake to Maze, like he was going to stop her from getting too close.

“It’s okay,” Chloe whispered to him. “She’s safe. Do you have her room ready for tonight?”

“Yes. But why does her room need to be ready? I thought she was staying here till Sunday.”

Chloe took in a ragged breath. “In case she doesn’t… if she decides…” she shook her head. “You know.”

Dan looked over to Chloe, taking in the worry and stress on her face, and suddenly he switched from the one who needed comforting to the comforter. “She’ll be fine, Chloe,” he said, giving her hand a squeeze. He turned towards his daughter. “Trixie! Did you thank your mother for the cake?”

“Thanks, Mom!” she said over her shoulder, her eyes never leaving her bounty of chocolatey goodness in the bakery box. Chloe rolled her eyes and gave a little laugh.

“Hey, Monkey, can Daddy and I talk to you for a minute?” 

Chloe’s tone of voice immediately put Trixie on high alert. “Is everything okay?” Trixie’s eyes left the cake, fixating on her mother.

“Yeah. Come sit down for a minute.” Chloe pointed Trixie and Dan towards the couch. She sat on the ottoman facing them. Behind Trixie and Dan, she saw Linda, Maze and Lucifer watching them from the kitchen. Maze was giving her the thumbs up, Linda gave an encouraging grin.

“It’s okay, Detective,” Lucifer, whispered, just loud enough for Chloe’s angelic ears to pick up. And that was the encouragement that Chloe needed.

Turning to her daughter, Chloe squared her shoulders. “Trixie, the most important person to me in the whole wide world is you. I care more about your happiness than anyone else’s. That will never,  _ ever,  _ change. You know that, right?”

“Of course, Mom,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“I’m your mother. It’s my job to keep you safe.”

“Yeah….?” Trixie was starting to look confused.

Chloe gazed off again towards Lucifer, a bit lost. He smiled at her and came into the living room to her rescue. “Your mother had to make a decision recently, Urchin. It wasn’t an easy one for her, and it will change her life forever, but the reason she chose what she did was because she loves you, and she wants to take care of you.”

Lucifer’s words gave Chloe the jump start she needed. “And Trixie? I don’t know what tomorrow will bring for us. I don’t know how our lives will change. But I know that, no matter what happens in the future, I made the right decision, because it means that I can stay with you and watch you grow,” Chloe kneeled on the floor in front of Trixie and pulled down the collar of her shirt to reveal her scar-free shoulder. “You noticed my scar was gone.”

“And your wrinkles.”

Chloe grinned. “I didn’t have that many wrinkles.”

Trixie laughed and touched Chloe’s face. “You had a bunch.”

“I did not have a bunch!” Chloe said, mock offended.

Trixie giggled again. “You did! And your hair was going gray.”

Chloe narrowed her eyes. “You noticed that? Smart Monkey. You notice everything, don’t you?”

Trixie shrugged. “My parents are detectives.”

Dan leaned in and put his hand on Trixie’s. “Remember what you asked me about yesterday morning?”

Trixie narrowed her eyes at him. “You thought I was being a stupid kid.”

Dan’s cheeks pulled up in a small smile. “I did. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you, Trixie. But, I found out that I was wrong and you were right.”

Trixie’s eyes wided, her jaw dropping. Her gaze flicked from her father to her mother and back again. A grin split open her face as she looked back at her dad. “Really?” Then she looked back at her mom. “You’re an…” she gulped, then whispered, “...angel?”

Chloe nodded, smiling a little. “Is that okay?” she asked, tentatively.

Trixie burst off the couch. “Are you kidding me? That’s so freaking cool! You’re really an angel? Does that mean that you can take care of Lucifer forever and ever so he won’t have to be alone?”

Chloe’s eyes flickered to Lucifer. The look she gave him was hopeful. “It does.”

Trixie leapt across the room to wrap her arms around Lucifer’s leg. Lucifer, predictably, cringed at the contact. “I’m so glad you’ll have Mommy. I was worried about what you would do after we were gone.” She looked up at him and grinned. Chloe wasn’t quite sure how Lucifer managed to look confused, surprised and pleased at the same time, but he pulled it off.

“Hey!” Maze broke in. “What about me? I’ve watched over him for millenia.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “You protect him. Mom will snuggle him.”

“Wait,” Dan said to his daughter, “you knew about Lucifer?”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Of course. You and Mom were being dummies.” Trixie whipped back over to her mother. “Do you have wings?” she asked, her eyes the size of saucers.

“I do,” Chloe said, smiling. “Do you want to see them?”

Trixie nodded. She was practically trembling with excitement.

Chloe took a hold of Trixie’s shoulders and maneuvered her next to Dan on the couch. She took a few steps back to give herself some room, and unfurled her wings. And watching Trixie’s face as she processed the new appendages on her mother’s back  _ almost  _ made everything else worth it. Trixie’s eyes sparkled, and she grinned ear to ear. She reached down and gripped her father’s hand. “Mommy,” she whispered, “you’re beautiful! It’s like you’re whole.”

“Whole?” Chloe asked, tilting her head to the side.

She shrugged, still smiling. “I don’t know. It’s like this is what you’re really supposed to look like.”

Lucifer came up behind her. “My father mentioned something about that, do you remember, Detective?”

Chloe turned to him, a question in her eyes.

He turned back to Trixie. “Your mother was the last angel my parents created. And my father waited until the right moment to bring her to life. So, yes, your mother’s soul was created ages ago as an angel. Then my father gave her to your grandparents and she spent the last 39 years in a human body. A few days ago, she finally got her wings. But this," he gestured to the winged Detective, "is who she's supposed to be."

Chloe vaguely remembered Lucifer’s father mentioning something about that while they were in Heaven, but, with everything else that had gone on, it had completely slipped her mind. She wasn’t sure if she found this knowledge comforting or disturbing. Lucifer put his hand on her back, careful not to touch her wings. “Are you okay?” he asked. 

She blinked twice, bringing herself back to the present. She nodded, smiling up at him. “Yeah, just got lost there for a minute.”

Maze leaned over and whispered to Linda, “You’re going to make a fortune from Decker’s therapy.” That comment earned her an elbow in the ribs from Linda and glares from Lucifer and Chloe. 

Lucifer opened his mouth to say something snarky to Maze, but Trixie interrupted him before he could get started. “Mommy, can I touch them?”

Chloe glanced over her shoulder and wings at Lucifer, raising her eyebrows in a silent question.

Lucifer turned to Trixie and said, “If it’s okay with your mother, you may. Just be gentle. They’re very sensitive.”

“Mommy?”

Only Lucifer had touched her wings before, and it was only for a second. The way she felt with his hands on her wings was _not_ something that one should feel in the presence of a child. But, Trixie asked. And Chloe felt like she was being put on the spot, so she said. “Just for a second, Trix. Be careful, okay?”

Trixie hopped down off the couch and approached her mother slowly. Trixie had the look in her eye of someone approaching a holy relic.

Which, come to think about it, wasn’t that far from the truth.

Slowly, Trixie reached one hand out and gently ran a finger down a feather.

Chloe was braced, scared of what she might feel with her daughter's hands on her wings. But she was immensely pleased to learn that her reaction to Trixie’s touch was not the same as her reaction to Lucifer’s. She let out a sigh of relief.

Trixie’s finger paused on the wing. “Is this okay, Mommy?”

Chloe knelt down next to Trixie. “I wasn’t sure what it would feel like to have someone touch them. But it’s okay if you want to keep going.”

Trixie beamed and sunk her hand in her mother’s feathers. “Am I the first person to touch them?”

“The first human, yes.” 

Trixie removed her hands from Chloe’s wing and wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck. “Thank you, Mommy.”

Chloe embraced her daughter. Unconsciously, her wings draped around the girl as well. It was a magnificent feeling. Chloe felt like she could keep her daughter safe from the world in the cocoon of her wings. It felt like having Trixie inside her womb again.

Something seemed to heal inside of Chloe as she held her daughter. She was Trixie’s mom, and Lucifer was right. Losing her stretch marks didn’t change that fact that she was Trixie’s and Trixie was hers.

And, for the first time in days, Chloe felt like herself again.

*****

Dinner went well for the most part. Trixie whined a bit when Chloe put her wings away before serving dinner, but Chloe, ever practical, pointed out to her daughter that the kitchen was small and her wings were large.

Then Dan tried to sit with Trixie placed between himself and Linda, the only other human present, but Trixie wouldn’t have that. She ended up sandwiched between her father and mother. Linda took sympathy on Dan and sat between him and Maze.

Chloe was so grateful for Lucifer’s presence that evening. Trixie had an endless stream of questions, many of which Chloe hadn’t known the answer to, but Lucifer answered them willingly. He even managed to keep it mostly child appropriate.

They somehow decided without saying a word to dance around the whole “Queen of Hell” bit.

Over desert, Dan leaned over to Trixie “How long have you known about Maze and Lucifer, Trix?”

Trixie shrugged at her Dad. “He said he was the Devil.”

“And you just believed him?”

Trixie nodded. “He’s got cool scary eyes. He used them to scare a bully away from me the first day we met.”

“You saw that, Urchin?” Lucifer asked, surprised. Trixie nodded again. “And you weren’t scared?”

“Nope!”

“Why not?” Lucifer asked, exasperated.

Trixie shrugged. “You’re nice. I could tell. And you keep me and Mommy safe. Daddy too. Do you have wings too, Lucifer?”

“I do,” Lucifer said cautiously.

“Can I see them?”

Chloe fully expected Lucifer to say no to that, but, yet again, he managed to surprise her. 

He looked at Trixie as she flashed him her big, hopeful, puppy dog eyes. Chloe watched with amusement as the Will of the Devil was conquered by a nine year old girl. Rolling his eyes, he said, “No touching, Urchin. Your hands aren’t clean.”

He got up from the table and took a few steps back before unfurling his radiant white wings.

Maze took the moment of distraction to steal half of Dan’s cake.

Trixie looked like Christmas had come early. “They’re so  _ pretty!  _ Lucifer, you look just like a real angel!”

Lucifer looked terribly offended at that. “I’m the Devil, Spawn. I’m an archangel.”

“What’s that mean?” she asked, innocently.

Lucifer folded his wings and sat back down, grabbing another slice of cake. Trixie tried to hide her disappointment at the wing's dissapearance and failed. “Regular angels like your mother or Amenadiel have certain gifts given to them by my father and mother. They’re stronger than humans, of course, and immortal. But archangels? We have something more. We hold the power of creation. Father only made two of us. Michael, my twin, is the Prince of Heaven. He does all the day to day running of the place. Father only steps in occasionally. I, of course, am the King of Hell.”

“Does that mean that Mommy is your queen?”

“It’s complicated,” Chloe said, stepping in. “Now, it’s time for Monkeys to brush their teeth and get ready for bed.” Trixie rolled her eyes, but hopped down from the table, heading for the bathroom.

“I’d better get going,” Linda said. “It’s late and I’ve got piles of paperwork.” She leaned over and whispered to Daniel, “My offer stands for an appointment time next week.”

“Linda, I don’t think I can afford you,” he whispered back.

“Nonsense, Daniel. Your time with the good Doctor is covered,” Lucifer said, waving his hand dismissively. 

“A deal with the Devil?” Dan asked, apprehensive. 

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “No, a repayment of debt.”

“Debt?” Dan asked, confused.

“You didn’t run away screaming. Picking up your tab on a few therapy sessions is the least I could do.”

Chloe got up from the table, clearing plates away, her stomach suddenly in her throat. 

“Dumbass,” Maze whispered to Lucifer.

“Do you want me to stick around?” Linda said, leaning over to Lucifer.

He shook his head and took his plate into the kitchen, handing it to Chloe. "I'm sorry. I thought that after therapy today that things would be okay."

Chloe turned to look at him, a shocked look on her face. "You think one therapy session will just fix everything?”

“It didn’t?” Lucifer looked at her, flashing his own sad chocolate puppy dog eyes.

She sighed. “They are better, but I'm not going to just magically get past all this after one session. Neither are you. It's going to take time, Lucifer."

"It will? But, we hugged."

She gave him a look that plainly said he was missing something. "Lucifer, how long have you been in therapy? A couple of years? Do you feel you've worked through all your issues?"

"Well, no."

"And, can you say 100% that you aren't mad at me anymore?"

He bit his lip in thought. "It's not that I'm not mad at you, and I'm really not even  _ that  _ mad anymore, but I would much rather bring you joy than punish you."

Chloe gave a little smile. How did this idiot somehow know how to say just the right thing? "We'll get there,” she said, placing her hand over his. “It will just take time."

“Okay,” he said. Then a line of worry creased between his eyebrows. “Are you still mad at me?"

She shrugged and started to wash a plate. "Yeah, a bit. But, I'd like to move past it. And I'd rather make you happy than sad."

Lucifer grinned at her then. "Then we're on the same page?"

"Sounds like it."

He took the clean plate from her hand and dried it with a towel. “I didn’t mean anything by what I said to Daniel, Detective. Really. I’m sorry.”

"I know. I shouldn’t be so sensitive,” she said, grabbing the next plate.

Lucifer took the plate and the sponge from her. “Don’t gaslight yourself, Detective. I should learn to think before I speak."

Chloe laughed at that. "I'd say that's impossible, but I suppose that I'm walking proof that miracles can happen." She put a hand over his, a twinkle in her eye. "And if the Devil learned to think before he spoke, it might just be a sign of the apocalypse."

Lucifer's jaw dropped for just a second, before his face split open in a grin. "The Detective made a joke!"

She grinned at him. "It happens from time to time. Now, give me my sponge back. I need to wash these."

"Nope! I'm doing dishes. You're putting your spawn to bed."

Chloe looked up at him, surprised. “You know how to wash dishes?”

He lifted his chin haughtily. “Of course!”

She smiled at him. “Okay. Thank you.” Chloe took two steps away from the sink and then turned back to him. "Don't put the dishes up wet!"

Lucifer flashed her a massive grin. "Oh ye of little faith, Detective."

She rolled her eyes at him and walked back to the kitchen table to find Dan clearing the last of the plates. Linda had left, and Maze had apparently disappeared into her room. “You want to explain to me what that was about?” he asked his ex-wife.

“Nope. Want to help with the bedtime story?” 

Dan sighed and nodded, following Chloe into Trixie’s room.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Trixie was much too excited to go to sleep. It took a lengthy conversation, another wing viewing, and two chapters of Harry Potter before her eyes finally decided to close. Considering the time spent in Trixie’s room, she fully expected Lucifer to be gone by the time she and Dan finally reentered the living room.

But, no. The Devil was busy scrubbing behind the microwave, his jacket off and his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows. “You need to work on your cleanliness, Detective.”

“If dust bunnies behind my microwave bother you so much, you’re more than welcome to come clean them out whenever you’d like,” she said, dryly.

Dan laughed at that, walking past the Devil to grab two beers from the fridge. “Dude, you can come hit up my house while you’re at it.” He handed one beer to Chloe and kept the other for himself. 

Chloe popped the cap off the beer. “It’s a nice night. Want to sit on the balcony?” 

Once the three of them were settled, drinks in hand, they fell into somewhat companionable silence. Finally, Dan spoke up. "So the Devil's a neat freak."

He nodded, taking a sip of scotch. "Heaven was spotless. Hell isn’t. It's hard to stay clean down there."

Chloe looked down at her hands, clean and dry. She tried to imagine them coated with dirt. For years at a time. Maybe centuries. She felt her heart rate spike. "Why?" she breathed.

Lucifer and Dan both looked to her and noticed the rising panic in her face. "Good job, dick," Dan said, "you scared her."

Lucifer's eyes got as round as saucers as he started backtracking. "Apologies, Detective. It's not that bad. I have a place that I keep clean. It's where I rest. I have water brought in daily for bathing. You only have to worry about the ash when you go out and about." Chloe turned panicked eyes towards him. "Really, Detective, it's a fairly minor complaint. It's not that bad. It doesn't seem to phase the demons much."

"Ash?" she whispered.

Lucifer gave her his confused puppy head tilt. "Well, it's Hell," he said, as if stating that the sky was blue.

"I hadn't thought much about it, really," she muttered. In truth, she'd been trying  _ not  _ to think about Hell.

Lucifer waived his hand dismissively. "I try to think about it as little as possible. It's a problem for another day."

The silence that descended on the table was slightly less comfortable than before.

Now Chloe had Hell on the brain. And, for some reason, her thoughts returned to Kassie. Was Kassie somewhere right now, covered in ash? Or was she frolicking on a cloud?

"Lucifer, is there a way to find out if someone went to Heaven or Hell?"

He took another sip of his scotch. "Not from Earth. Why?"

"How would you find out?"

His eyes flickered between Dan and Chloe. He had a feeling that this conversation was not about to go someplace good.

Hesitantly, he said, "I'd pop down, take a seat on the throne. It connects me to all of Hell. I could find any soul through it. If I didn't find the soul there, then they must be in Heaven. Again, I ask, why do you want to know?"

Chloe looked at her clean hands, her resolve suddenly hardening. "Kassie," she finally said. "I need to know if she's okay."

"The murder vic?" Dan asked. "Why would she be in Hell?"

"Because guilt sends you to Hell, Douche. Keep up."

"Sorry, Dick, this is all new to me!" Dan sniped back. 

"Guys," Chloe held up her hands, glaring at both until they relaxed their aggressive postures. "Lucifer, I need to know," she said, locking her gaze to Lucifer's.

"Why would she feel guilty? She was the victim." Dan asked.

"Because she betrayed the man she loved," Chloe said, still looking at Lucifer. "And I'm sure she felt terribly about it."

Lucifer's expression softened, and he gently ran his hand down the side of Chloe's face. "I wish she wouldn't," he said.

Chloe leaned into his touch, momentarily closing her eyes. "I need to know."

"I'm afraid the answer may not bring you any peace, Detective."

"If she went to Hell, it isn't justice," she said, opening her eyes. "My job was to get her justice."

"Your job ended when you caught her killer."

Chloe shook her head. "That was true three days ago. I don't think it's true anymore. Lucifer, I can't get her out of my head. I need to know."

He sighed, closing his eyes. "I hate that this happened to you, Detective."

"I'm not particularly thrilled about it either."

"I don't want you in Hell, Detective."

She sighed at him. "Lucifer, it's going to happen eventually."

"It doesn't have to be today," he said.

"I need to know."

"You're too good for that place."

"I’m not and you know it."

"But I like this suit!"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Lucifer…"

A defeated look crossed his face as his shoulders slumped. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Chloe nodded.

"Wait just a minute," Dan said, standing up. "Are you two talking about going to Hell? Right now?"

The two celestial beings turned to look at him. "Do you mind staying here and watching Trixie?" Chloe asked

"Seriously,  _ that's  _ what's concerning you about this whole situation?"

"We'll be gone for less than ten minutes, Daniel," Lucifer said. "Time moves differently in Hell."

"Dan,” Chloe said, bringing his gaze back to her. “will you watch Trixie?"

His jaw was hanging wide open. "Yeah?"

"Thank you." She grabbed her beer and chugged the rest of it down. "Okay, let's do this." She stood up and moved to the edge of her balcony, spreading her wings. "Same concept as coming from Heaven to Earth, Lucifer?"

He nodded, rising. "I'll drive, just like before." He took her hands, opening his own wings. "We'll teach you how to do this on your own soon. Just hold on for now, though and we'll get there."

Chloe nodded. Her resolve was holding, but only just.

"Daniel," Lucifer said, "Be a dear and refill our drinks while we're gone. We'll need it when we get back."

Dan nodded, still shocked. "Sure. Okay."

Lucifer wrapped his arms around Chloe's waist. "Ready, Detective?"

Chloe took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "Yeah. Let's do this."

And, between one blink and the next, Dan found himself alone on the balcony.

*****

Lucifer and Chloe appeared high above the plains of Hell. Since Chloe hadn't figured out how to fly yet, Lucifer had been prepared to basically plop her down on his throne and hover nearby.

But, his solitary throne was gone. In its place, duel thrones stood side by side, connected to a single rock spire rising from the floor of Hell.

"It appears that Hell was expecting you, Detective."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Hell, Detective!
> 
> Note on the upcoming release schedule: We're going to be in Hell for the next three chapters. I know Hell stories aren't everyone's jam, so if that's not your thing, I ask for your patience... and none of the Hell chapters have a particularly high word count... then I promise another interlude in the first post-Hell chapter filled with teeth-rotting Trixifer/Deckerstar fluff :) After that, comes the final chapter, with (duh duh DUH!) new angst!!!!! And that will lead us into part 3 of the story which should release about a month after completion of Part 2. 
> 
> One quick heads up on the next three chapters: Trixie's reveal was the last chapter that I wrote before the protests started here in the US. I'm not going to beat anyone over the head with my own personal morality in this fic. I do plenty of that in my "real life." But the protests have had a subtle influcence on Chloe and Lucifer's trip to Hell. #blacklivesmatter


	14. Looped (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not intend for my little tour of Hell to include a big sloppy word kiss to the US National Parks in the American West, but it happened. I’m going to blame this on the fact that I had two vacations planned this year that were both cancelled due to COVID-19 (one to Yellowstone, and kayaking trip to Horseshoe Bend in Arizona). 
> 
> I based the landscape of Hell on places that I’ve visited. To give you an idea of what Hell looks like in my brain, do a google image search for the following places:
> 
> For the mountains:  
> In shape, they are the Grand Tetons (in Wyoming).  
> There’s also hints of Monument Valley and Superstition Mountain (both in Arizona)  
> For additional Hellish ambiance, look up Arches National Park (in Utah)
> 
> For the lake:  
> This is 100% Emerald Lake (in Colorado). Seriously, just transplant it from there to Hell, throw a dark blue filter over the image and you’re there. The trees surrounding the lake are Lodgepole Pines, and the lake sits about 100 feet (30ish meters) below the treeline. In some of the pictures, you can see stands of dead trees that were killed by the pine-kill beetle. The Hell version, though, is still densely forested, as it was during my first visit many years ago.
> 
> In future installments, I may transplant some more of Yellowstone into Hell simply because the place is so weird that it feels like it should belong to another plane of existence. If I chose to plagiarize other bits of Earth into the underworld, I’ll let you know.

Chloe felt pressure around her as they passed from one dimension to the next. It felt somewhat like being squeezed through a tube. Her eyes shut against the pressure. But, almost as soon as it started, it was over. 

Eyes still closed, she let her other senses reach out. It was silent. No wind, no birds, no bugs, no voices. The only sound was the occasional flap of Lucifer's wings as he kept them airborne. 

Hell was cold. Who would have thought? But, the air still felt thick, like an especially muggy day. 

Chloe took her first breath in and smelt sulfur. Her parents had taken her to Yellowstone as a child, and the scent of Hell immediately reminded her of the geysers. It had been a good vacation with good memories. In the early days of her marriage to Dan, she’d returned and was pleased to find the place just as unique and magical as it had been during her childhood visit, filled with tall pines and the geysers puffing their sulfuric scent. While the scent of Hell wasn't particularly pleasant, it brought a sense of nostalgia instead of disgust. 

Was sulfur the same thing as brimstone? She'd have to look it up when she got home. What was brimstone anyway?

Slowly, Chloe opened her eyes to find them hovering high above the ground. Peeking out from rolling clouds was a small blue sun, casting the entire realm in a weak gray light. Hazy gray clouds pushed across the ground, partially concealing rows and rows of buildings arranged haphazardly. In the middle of them, a vast palace sat directly below her feet. Rimming the city… was city the right word?... was a ring of high, jagged mountains. 

And, to her left, two vast stone chairs stood on top of a stone spire. "It appears that Hell was expecting you, Detective," Lucifer said. With a single flap of his mighty wings, Lucifer deposited her on the right-hand throne. He sat down on the edge of the throne on her left. The two thrones shared a central armrest.

Chloe pressed herself as far back into the throne as possible, her wings squished between her back and the stone chair. It was a long way down. A  _ really  _ long way down.

Lucifer cocked his head to the side. "Are you afraid of heights, Detective?"

"No," she said, too fast.

"You have wings."

"I don't know how to use them!"

Lucifer gave a chuckle at that. "We'll have to fix that when we get home. Maybe your Spawn can help."

"I'm sure she'd love that," Chloe said, pushing herself further back in the throne, her eyes on the ground beneath her.

"Detective?" Lucifer said. She ignored him, her eyes still on the ground far beneath her feet. "Chloe?"

"Yeah?" she asked breathlessly.

"Don't look down. Look at me."

Chloe dragged her eyes to Lucifer's face. "You're with the Devil in Hell, Detective. Nothing will harm you here."

"I might fall…"

"I will  _ never  _ let you fall," Lucifer said with conviction.

Chloe felt some of the tension leave her shoulders. "Okay." Chloe tore her eyes off Lucifer and let her hands run across the cool stone of the throne. "So, okay. We're in Hell."

"Yes, Detective."

"And that's your throne. Because you're the king."

"Semi-retired technically, but yes. And that one is yours, I believe. I wonder…." Lucifer gripped the central armrest with his right hand. His eyes rolled back in his head and closed. Chloe watched as several emotions crossed his face. Trepidation, mirth, a hint of anger, then the proud, haughty expression of a king. Finally, his eyes opened and he turned to Chloe. "She wants to meet you."

"Who?"

"Hell."

"Hell is  _ alive?" _

Lucifer shrugged. "I don't know if 'alive' is the right word. She is conscious, and if an angel sits on this throne, they can access her. How much she decides to say depends on her mood. Apparently my twin has been keeping an eye on the place lately. She doesn't like him. Can't say I blame her."

"This is my life," she muttered under her breath. "Okay, so how do I, um, talk to… Hell?"

Lucifer raised his right hand from the central arm of the throne and placed it down again. "Just put your hand here. She'll talk if she wants."

"Is she… I don't know… good?"

"You're asking the Devil to determine if something is good or bad," he responded dryly.

"I'm asking my partner if what I'm about to do is safe," she snapped back.

Lucifer made a little O with his mouth and nodded. "She won’t hurt you. You’ll be safe. But you may find the experience… unsettling.”

Chloe was still hesitant. Wings? Sure. Yelling at God? Why not. But having a non-verbal conversation with Hell? Now it’s getting weird. Lucifer took her hand. “I’m right here, detective. She’s waiting.”

She put her left hand an inch above the arm of the throne and held it there for a second before slowly placing it on the cold stone surface.

It was like she had been transported. Everything was black. She couldn’t see her hand in front of her face. In fact, she wasn’t even sure that she had hands. Or eyes. Or anything. In fact, as far as Chloe could tell, she was just a disembodied thought floating in a solid black nothing. She felt herself begin to panic, until she remembered Lucifer’s words:  _ You’ll be safe.  _

Lucifer wouldn’t lie to her. 

It felt weird to calm herself down while not being able to draw a breath, but slowly, she felt herself becoming so.

“Very good,” a Voice said in the darkness.

“Hell?” she said. But she didn’t have a mouth to speak. Or ears to hear.

“Yes,” the Voice said. “I thought darkness would be… easiest for our first meeting. I’ve been expecting you, Chloe Decker.

“How did you know that I was coming?”

“The realms can speak to each other.”

“Heaven is alive too? And Earth?”

Chloe felt as if the Voice shrugged. “We are aware.”

“Lucifer said you wanted to meet me.”

“Yes. I wished to take measure of you, Chloe Decker.” She felt the Voice move around her, as if examining her. “An ancient soul in a young body. Only days old, really. You have known pain and guilt. That is familiar to me. Touching you is like touching the King. Your pain is the same. Your guilt is the same. Yours is less ancient, though. Unsurprising for one who has only been aware for a short time. Yes, the King’s father did well in making you, Chloe Decker. You match him well. Tell me, what brings you to me? You are early.”

“I wanted to know the fate of a soul. Kassie Carlton.” Chloe felt the Voice of Hell  _ push  _ into her awareness. 

“You feel for this soul. She has guilt that mirrors your own. Do you think she is down here with us?”

“She was a good person. She deserves to go to Heaven.”

“That wasn’t what I asked you. You know the rules.The King has explained them to you. I will ask you one more time, Chloe Decker. Do you think she is down here with us?”

Chloe felt her own guilt like a pulse through her veins. “Yes, I do,” she said finally.

She felt the Voice give a hum of approval. “If you still had a mortal soul and you died today, where would you end up?”

Chloe sensed that the Voice would accept nothing less than the truth. “My guilt has lessened, but it’s not gone. I don’t think it will ever disappear. While I cannot say for sure where I would go, I still feel like I deserve to be here.”

“Very good, Chloe Decker. You answered true.” Chloe felt the Voice push into her again. “You will do well here. You will fix things that are broken. But you are not the Queen yet.”

“God said…”

“God is not the final arbiter of truth in this realm.”

“Who is?”

“Whoever wears a crown.”

“Lucifer doesn’t wear a crown,”

She felt like the Voice was laughing at her. “You’ve only seen it in its smaller form, but he never removes it.”

Chloe thought for a moment. “His ring?”

“Yes. Any angel may speak to me through the throne. But only one who wears a crown may command me. But the King knows that he wears his crown because I deemed him worthy. And he will heed my council. You are not the Queen yet, Chloe Decker. Tell him to come back to me. You and I will speak again soon.”

Chloe felt a  _ push  _ and suddenly she was back on the throne towering high above Hell. She removed her hands from the throne and turned wide eyes to Lucifer. She felt her heart hammering in her rib cage.

“Was she nice? I told her to be nice.”

“I don’t know if ‘nice’ is the right word, but she wasn’t mean. She told me that I wasn’t the queen.” Chloe wasn’t quite sure if she should feel insulted or relieved by that.

Lucifer’s mouth thinned into a line as he played with the ring on the middle finger of his right hand. “She’s rather finicky like that.”

Chloe ran her hands over her arms, shivering. “Why is it cold? Shouldn’t it be hot?” 

“Hell’s a big place, Detective. There are parts that are quite hot.” 

Chloe let her eyes roam across the realm that would someday become her home. “Next time, remind me to bring a jacket,” she said. “Hell wants to talk with you again.”

“Yes, I imagine that she does.” Lucifer placed his hand back on his throne. As soon as he closed his eyes, Chloe gave another shiver.  _ Idiot,  _ she thought.  _ You've got two down comforters attached to your back.  _ She wrapped her wings around herself and huddled inside the warm appendages.

When Lucifer opened his eyes again, he turned to Chloe, grinning a little at the feather ball on the throne of Hell. “She likes you.” He stood, carefully balanced on the thin footrest at the base of the throne. He held out one hand, pulling Chloe to her feet. She flared her wings behind her to keep her balance “Kassie is here.”

“She’s here? In Hell?” 

“This surprises you?”

Chloe considered for a moment. “No, not really. I don’t like it though. There’s no way to get her out?”

“Almost none of the doors are locked, Detective, but no one has ever left their cell. Their guilt keeps them trapped inside.” 

“Can we go inside and see her?”

Lucifer stared into her eyes and saw only grim determination. He sighed, looking down to the ground far below them. “Okay,” he said. “We really need to teach you how to fly. Tomorrow if possible.” He rolled his eyes theatrically. “Well, nothing to be done about it now. Put your wings away.” He held out the arm that wasn’t currently in Chloe’s death grip.

Chloe looked at him blankly. 

“I’m going to carry you..”

Chloe raised an eyebrow and looked down.

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “You trust me to bring you into Hell, but you balk at the idea of a little flight?”

She let out a huff of air and retracted her wings. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just a long way... _ down!”  _ Lucifer scooped her up and dove off the throne, his wings spreading wide. He laughed as she clung to him.  _ “That wasn’t funny, Lucifer!” _

“An angel afraid of heights? It’s hilarious.” They dove closer to a cloud layer and Chloe braced, expecting an impact. Lucifer leveled off as they entered the cloud and shuddered. “Ash,” he said with derision. “May I borrow your shower when we get home, Detective? I don’t want to get this mess in the Corvette.”

“We’re flying through Hell and you’re concerned about your upholstery?”

“Of course. I feel I should have stashed some clothes at your house a long time ago. Do you have something that I could wear home? This suit will be a loss. Pity.”

Chloe let out a little laugh. “You’re unbelievable.” Lucifer looked down at her and grinned. She realized, at this moment, that he was trying to distract her from what they were doing. His distraction worked. Chloe tightened her grip on his shoulders, not in fear, but as a thanks. Lucifer’s grin faded into something softer as he gazed at her like she was something precious. “Watch where you’re going,” she said, poking him in the back. He chuckled and turned ahead, giving two flaps of his wings to give them additional height. 

The mountains that had seemed so far away from the throne were fast approaching. He beat his wings harder, giving them the clearance to soar through a high pass. On the other side of the mountains, another plain spread out in front of them. Buildings filled this valley as well, the walkways between them barely the width of a sidewalk. The ash clouds were thankfully thinner here, and the air seemed to lose a bit of it’s humidity. “The idea of circles is nonsense, of course, but Hell does have divisions,” Lucifer said. “I don’t know if Hell planned it this way, or if the souls sort themselves, but this area is populated with people like Kassie. Souls who are generally good people, but have made a mistake that they regret.” Lucifer gestured forward with his chin. “Look there, Detective.” 

Far away against the next mountain range, nestled in a valley between high peaks stood a small, clear lake, surrounded by… trees? “Trees grow in Hell?”

“Only here. I don’t know what it is about this spot that allows them to grow, but grow they do. It’s the closest thing to beauty the realm managed to produce. Besides the spring under the castle, this is the only water source in Hell.” 

“Does it rain here?”

“No.”

“Where does the water come from?”

Lucifer shrugged. “The lake has always been here, but the spring didn’t show up until later. Honestly, I think Hell put it there because she grew tired of hearing me complain about the ash sticking to my skin.”

“Getting tired of hearing you complain? I can’t imagine that at all. Hell has my sympathies.” Chloe said with a dry laugh. 

Lucifer sighed. “I never should have introduced the two of you.”

Chloe gave another laugh at his expense. “It’s a lovely little lake, though. Does it have a name?” 

“I never gave it one. Perhaps you could name it.” 

As they flew closer and closer to the lake, Chloe began to make out details of the trees, she gave a little gasp of recognition. “They look like Lodgepole Pines!”

“What’s a Lodgepole Pine?”

She gave a genuine smile, flashing back again to her trips to Yellowstone. “They’re my favorite tree. They grow at high elevations in the Rocky Mountains from Colorado up through Canada. They’re dying though. Climate change.”

“How is climate change killing a tree?”

“There’s some beetle that burrows into them. If the winter doesn’t get cold enough, the beetles don’t die off and they eat the trees,” she ended, sadly.

“Humans,” Lucifer said derisively. “I’ve got a whole section devoted to scumbag grifters who enrich themselves at the expense of others. I’ve got several oil execs down there if you’d like to take a go at them some time for killing your trees.”

“I’ll pass for now.”

“Offer stands if you change your mind.” Lucifer flared his wings, stopping their movement. He brought her down into a walkway so narrow that he had to go in sideways to fit his wings. To Chloe’s left, the walkway seemed to stretch for miles. To her right, she could just catch a glimpse of the tall trees surrounding the lake. Lucifer released his hold on Chloe, placing her on her feet. Directly in front of her stood a plain wooden door. “She’s inside, Detective.”

“What will I see in there?” Chloe asked, her eyes fixated on the door, her pulse climbing.

Lucifer shrugged. “Every person creates their own Hell loop. Whatever you see, though, it won’t be pleasant.” Chloe paused, her hand on the doorknob. She took one breath, then another, and a third, trying to find her resolve. “You don’t have to see this, Detective. We can go back.”

Chloe’s back stiffened. She didn’t have the luxury of fear right now. Justice needed to be done. “No. I need to know.”

Lucifer nodded. “I’ll be right beside you the whole time.”

Chloe opened the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Hell isn't exactly a prime vacation destination, but at least Chloe and Lucifer have some elevation to entertain the eyes. Unlike me. Stuck on the plains with nary a hill in sight *sigh*
> 
> Any other outdoorsy people reading? Where do you like to go to hike/climb/kayak/etc?
> 
> Also: sulfur and brimstone are the same thing. I learned this while googling :) Another random thing I learned: In America, it's spelled sulfur, everywhere else, it's spelled sulphur. The "ph=f" concept is apparently confusing to us here *shrug*


	15. Looped (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Entering the Loop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. 8000 hits. I am simply blow away :) Thank you all so much for reading this little story. I very much appreciate all the kudos, hits, and comments that this story has received!
> 
> TW: A murder is described in this chapter. I kept it as non-graphic as possible.

Chloe opened the door, not knowing what to expect.

But what was on the other side was a very normal living room lit by hazy morning light. She recognized the space. This was Kassie and Kent’s home. This was where she had died. Lucifer took a hold of her hand before she crossed the threshold. "She may not realize that she's dead. Most don't. She won’t be able to see us for now." Chloe nodded and walked into the room. She could hear small sobs coming from behind the couch. A bloody baseball bat sat in the middle of the floor.

Suddenly the scene shifted. They were in the same living room, but it was nighttime. Kent and Kassie appeared in the middle of the room. 

Kent was screaming, Kassie was crying. "How  _ could  _ you? This was all I had left of Justin and you took it away from me! He was my  _ brother!  _ And you knew that I didn’t want to sell, so you went behind my back and forged my signature! _ " _

"He's not real," Lucifer whispered to Chloe. "Her mind created him."

Kassie flinched back at his words. “Kent, please calm down and let's talk about this rationally. You never yell like this.”

_ “You never betrayed me before!  _ My father will be so furious with me!" Kent turned away from Kassie, his face now turned in Chloe's direction. He looked terrified. "This means everything to him! It means everything to  _ me!” _

"I'm sorry about that, Kent. I really am. But, you've got to remember that SoberRide will keep going. People will still be able to use the service. This was the only way to keep the doors open. To get people home alive. It will continue."

“But without me! And it will charge people! You  _ know  _ that a no charge service was important to my father! You know that saved lives! We could have made it work!”   


“Kent, we couldn’t. The money just wasn’t there. You know that. Our insurance was just too high, after...” She didn’t finish the sentence, but Chloe knew what she wanted to add:  _ after you screwed up and didn’t check the driver’s licences. _

Kent reared back like she had struck her. “How dare you try and blame me for what you did! Selling the company was your mistake! Not mine!” He pulled his hands through his hair as he stalked around the living room. He looked crazed. Chloe couldn’t blame Kassie for jerking away when he whipped towards her again. _ "You ruined everything!"  _ Kent stormed from the room, and Kassie fell to the couch, defeated. 

The scene shifted. Kent and Kassie were avoiding each other as they moved about the kitchen. 

Shift. Kent was sleeping on the couch as Kassie looked on, tears in her eyes. 

Shift. Kent was walking out the front door without saying goodbye. 

Shift. Another fight between them, this time in the parking lot in front of SoberRide. 

Shift. Kassie and Harry inside the SoberRide lobby. Harry was yelling. "This is all your fault! Sarah Thomas. She was 26 years old. Hit and killed by a drunk driver! That driver should have been using  _ our  _ service! But you let it slide during the lawsuit. No outreach, no advertisement, you weren't recruiting volunteers and donors! Sarah Thomas died because of  _ you! _ "

"I  _ tried!"  _ Kassie yelled. "Every one of these deaths breaks me, Harry! I've been out there every day looking for people to donate and I’ve come back with nothing!"

_ "You weren't trying hard enough!  _ You don't give a shit about this, do you? Not really. If you cared about Kent or me,, if you cared about the family of this woman, you would have found the money! You wouldn’t have sold us out!"

Shift. It was the moment Kassie described in her journal, the night before her death. Kassie and Kent looked rumpled after their nocturnal activities. Kent rolled over in his sleep, wrapping his arms around her.

Except, in Hell, he woke up. "You didn't kill my brother, but you killed the last thing we had of him. I just used you to scratch an itch tonight, Kassie. I'll never forgive you and you know that."

Shift. Hazy morning light filtered through the windows of the living room again. Harry stood in the middle of the living room, holding Justin's bat.

"Not again," Kassie whimpered. 

"You broke Kent. You destroyed the last bit of Justin that we had left."

"No. Kent and I, we're going to work through this, Harry. I'll make it up to him, I promise."

" _ NOT. POSSIBLE!"  _ Harry screamed, waving the bat. "You will  _ never  _ bring back any of the lives that have been lost because  _ you  _ sold the app! Why the hell would you even try to make things better with Kent, when you know that there is no way that he can forgive you for what you did?"

"I love him! And he loves me!"

_ "He never loved you!"  _ Harry swung the bat once, hitting Kassie in the side. She dropped to her knees. "You little idiot! He was  _ using  _ you! Didn't you know? All he wanted from you is a way to make the app work! He didn't love you!"

"He does," Kassie whispered. "He said…"

"He said what? What he needed to say to keep stringing you along? He's not capable of love. How could a person who disrespected his own family ever love someone else! Kent failed me. He only married you for what you could do for him. And what a waste that turned out to be. He was only using you to make me happy!"

Kassie narrowed her eyes. "He's not like that. He's better than that. Better than  _ you _ ."

Harry's eyes flared with anger and the bat fell again, this time low across Kassie's spine. Chloe heard a bone snap. Kassie screamed as she dropped to the floor. Her legs twitched once and went still.

Harry paused then, looking down at her, panic flitting across his face for just an instant before it was replaced with anger.

He bent down. "Now look what you made me do." He brushed a piece of hair out of Kassie's face. She shivered away from his touch. "But, really, this is no less than you deserve, isn't it?"

Kassie whimpered again. "Please…"

"Please what? Bring my son back? I can't. Nine people were killed in drunk driving accidents in the last month, just like my son. Nine people who would be alive if it weren't for you." Harry's hand tightened around the bat again. "Their blood is on your hands," he said, with a cold, hard whisper.

He swung. And swung. And swung.

Then Kassie was gone. Harry was gone.

The bloody bat sat in the middle of the living room, and Kassie could be heard crying behind the couch. "My fault, my fault, my fault."

Shift. It was nighttime in the living room. Kent and Kassie were arguing.

Lucifer tugged on Chloe's arm, pulling her through the door. It closed, and Chloe collapsed on the floor of the walkway. Lucifer kneeled in front of her, with no idea of what to say.

“That was horrible,” she whimpered.

“That’s Hell,” Lucifer said with no inflection in his voice.

“All these doors?” she said, trailing off and gesturing down the hall.

“They’re filled with scenes just like this.”

“It’s not fair, Lucifer _ ” _

Lucifer raised his shoulders in a shrug. “For some of them, it is. Does Harry deserve a cell down here? Does Perry Smith?”

Chloe jerked her head towards him, Hellfire in her eyes. She wanted to say, “yes” almost as much as she wanted to say, “no one deserves that.” She blinked, turning her eyes back to blue. “It’s not my place to judge,” she said quietly.

But what if it was? The unease that had rested in Chloe’s brain since closing the case came back in force. What if she could fix this? "There has to be a way to stop this."

Lucifer shook his head. "I've tried. So many times. All they can see is their guilt."

Chloe's breath was coming in short, panicked gasps. She looked to her left down the long hall and saw a glimpse of the trees around the lake. Her heart was screaming at her. This was  _ wrong.  _ Kassie didn't deserve this. It wasn't  _ just. _

No justice. No peace. Know justice. Know peace. “Because that’s not your gift, Lucifer. But maybe it’s mine.”

Lucifer stared at her, slack jawed. “That would change everything.

"I want to talk to her."

"It may not do any good, Detective."

Chloe ran her hands through her hair. In the distance, she saw the light from the weak sun flash at her from the surface of the lake. "I want to try."

Lucifer sighed, looking down into Chloe's eyes. She stared back up at him, stubborn, proud, determined. She saw the moment that he gave in. He rolled his eyes, looking back to the lake. "What did you say those trees were called again?"

"Lodgepole pines."

"And they're your favorite?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Chloe sighed at his distraction, but played along. "At first, it was just because they reminded me of a time when I was happy. Going to Yellowstone was my favorite vacation as a kid. Shortly after my dad died though, I found a book that he bought while we were vacationing up there. The book said that the only way the trees could be reborn was to burn."

"Burn?"

Chloe nodded. "Their pine cones only open up and spread their seed if they get heated by fires. So, they have to burn for the species to survive." Chloe shrugged. "I don't know why, but that fact helped me through my dad's death. I burned, but I survived. I started over and became a cop. My old life was destroyed, but what came in its place was better."

"And now your life is burned again."

Chloe nodded. "I'm scared, Lucifer. I don't like what happened to me. And I don't particularly like the idea of spending the rest of eternity down here. But, I've got to believe that I'll come through this burned, but stronger. I've got to hope that what will come of this will be better than what was before."

Her eyes were on fire again, not with Hellfire, but with a steel blue determination. And, in that moment, Lucifer thought that if anyone could bend Hell by force of will alone, it was her.

"Those trees have been here longer than I have. Maybe they were put here for you." He held a hand out to her. "You want to talk to Kassie?"

"I do," she said, taking his hand.

"I'll stop the loop when we get inside. She'll be able to see us and talk to us." He pulled her to her feet. "Let's see if you really are a miracle."

*****

Hazy morning sunlight filtered through the windows. A bloody bat sat on the floor. Kassie was crying behind the couch.

But this time, the loop didn't reset.

Lucifer nodded towards the couch. "Talk to her, Detective."

Chloe turned towards the sound of tears. "Kassie?"

"Who's there?" came a choked reply.

"Kassie, my name is Chloe Decker. I'm, well," she shook her head, a wry grin on her face. "I'm with the LAPD. Will you talk to me?"

"It just keeps happening. I don't know why."

"Kassie, I'm coming around the couch, okay? I'm not going to hurt you."

Chloe stepped around the back of the couch and knelt in front of the woman. Kassie turned tear stained eyes up to her.

"Hi," Chloe said with a smile.

Kassie looked at her like she was a light in the darkness. "I don't understand what's happening."

"I know," Chloe said. "I'm so sorry, Kassie."

"He hit me with the bat. I felt it," Kassie gave a shuddering breath. "I felt it break me. But now I'm here, and Harry is gone."

"What do you think happened, Kassie?"

Kassie shook her head. "I don't understand. I should be dead, but it just keeps happening, over and over. It's like…" Kassie stopped, looking down at her hands. "I feel like…"

Chloe reached out and put a hand over Kassie's. "Like you're in Hell?" Chloe asked kindly.

Kassie nodded.

Chloe gave her a grim little smile, saying nothing.

Kassie's eyes widened as she put two and two together. "That's what happened, isn't it?"

Chloe nodded. "Back on Earth, I investigated your death, Kassie. I put Harry behind bars for what he did to you."

Kassie broke down then, sobbing. Chloe leaned over and wrapped her hands around the woman, letting her cry it out and muttering nonsense words to soothe. Time passed, and Chloe eventually led her to the couch. Lucifer was standing at the edge of the room, silently watching. "Who's that?" Kassie hiccuped. 

"That's my partner, Kassie. He helped me catch Harry."

Lucifer mentally congratulated Chloe for telling the truth while leaving out the details.

"What are two cops doing in Hell?"

"Oh," Lucifer waved his hands, "there's a lot of cops in Hell."

Chloe wondered if she should be more surprised about this fact than she was. The police were supposed to help people, after all. Then she thought of Palmetto Street, and how her fellow officers were so willing to sweep bad behavior under the rug if it meant protecting their own. 

Chloe thought about the officers that used their position of power as an excuse to hurt others. She thought about all the complaints she heard from fellow officers about body cameras and "political correctness."

No, it did not surprise Chloe at all. While there were certainly many officers who always tried to serve and protect, there were also plenty that were willing to cause pain or look the other way. The only thing that surprised her was that some of those douchebags cops managed to remove their heads from their asses long enough to feel the guilt required to end up in Hell.

"I'm not just a cop, Kassie. Would you believe me if I told you that I'm an angel?"

Kassie tilted her head to the side, examining Chloe. "I believe you. What's a angel doing working for the LAPD?"

Chloe laughed. "It's a _very_ long story."

"Are you here to get me out?" Kassie asked.

"I don't know if it's possible, but I'd like to try."

"So who's your friend? Really?"

Lucifer leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms. "I'm the Devil." Kassie's eyes grew as round as saucers and she pressed back into the couch, cowering behind Chloe.

Chloe turned and glared at him. "You're scaring her, Lucifer!" She turned back to Kassie. "Ignore him. He won't hurt you."

Kassie swallowed twice before speaking again. "Are you in charge of him?"

Lucifer bristled, Chloe grinned.

"No," Lucifer said.

"Sometimes," she said with a smile. "When he chooses to listen. That's not important though, Kassie. Can we talk about Kent?"

And so they talked, and talked. Chloe learned about their courtship, their marriage, her work, and, looming like a dark shade over their entire relationship was Harry Carlton with the memory of Justin in tow. Kassie had always feared him, and so, Chloe suspected, had Kent. But every time Harry would push just a bit too hard, he would come back with trips and presents and affection. Then the cycle would repeat. 

"Kent loved his father so much, but Harry didn't care. All he cared about was what Kent could give to him and what I could give to him. And all he wanted was a little piece of Justin to hold onto."

"If Harry hadn't been involved, do you think you could have convinced Kent to sell?"

Kassie nodded. "It was the only way to save even a bit of what we had built. Harry didn't think that I cared, but I did. I cared so much, and it tore me apart that I couldn't make it work."

"Harry never should have put that kind of pressure on you. He put you in a place where you couldn't win. Don't you see? His father wanted to hurt you, and he pushed your buttons to make you feel guilty and murdered you. Harry is the reason you're here, Kassie. You shouldn't be here."

Lucifer had remained silent through most of the conversation, but at that, he drew in a breath.  _ "Chloe,"  _ he whispered.

She looked over to him, confused and then played her last words back in her head. Her mouth opened up in shock, then a grim anger filled her eyes. She turned back to Kassie. "Look, what happened to you wasn't fair. It sucks to love someone who has an asshole for a parent. Trust me, I know all about that. But, Kassie, you did everything you could. And I don't care what Harry said. I looked into Kent's eyes and I saw how much he loved you. You tried so hard for him, and you left the world a better place than you found it, because you, Kassie, you're a good person." Chloe felt her gift kick in. As before, with Kent, the words seemed to flow from her without conscious thought. "What happened was not your fault and you shouldn't blame yourself." Chloe brought her hand against Kassie's cheek. "Do you think you deserve better than this, Kassie?"

Kassie's eyes glazed over, and peace seemed to settle over her. "I do."

Behind them, the door to Kassie's Hell Loop clicked open.

Kassie gave a gasp at the weak blue light that filtered through the door. "What's out there?"

"There's a lake. It's pretty. Would you like to see it?" Chloe took Kassie's hand, and led her out of her loop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea of guilt being the deciding factor for an eternity in Hell has always rubbed me wrong about this show. I hated it. It made my skin crawl. I know far too many horrible people who justify their own actions, and too many good people who beat themselves up with unnecessary guilt. In the first chapter of the first story in this series, I originally had a throwaway line as a "fixit" for this... but that was when the whole story was still only three chapters long. I've since gone back and removed that line. Honestly, I like the idea of making Chloe the Angel of Justice a LOT better that just writing in a one line fixit.
> 
> So I have good news! I was VERY productive over the last few days! Chapters 16 and 17 are completed, and 18 is about halfway done. So, short of a worldwide internet blackout (and, it's 2020, so I'm not ruling it out) this will most definitely NOT be an abandoned WIP :) 
> 
> ....and I may have skipped ahead and written what will become either the first or second chapter of Part 3....


	16. Looped (Part 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Swimming, ashy wings, beer, and 20 questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what I did this morning? I finished writing this fic!!!!! Unless something drastic and weird happens, expect Chapter 17 on Friday, and the final chapter next Monday or Tuesday. This week will be spent editing.

Kassie spent the entire walk to the lake staring with wide eyes at her surroundings in wonder and fear. Chloe, frankly, was a bit jealous. She wanted to do the same, but right now Kassie needed her to be strong. The fact that the Devil was walking behind her seemed to give Kassie added anxiety. She kept shooting glances at him over her shoulder. Chloe could see that Kassie feared the Devil, as most of humanity did. As Chloe had, not very long ago. But now Chloe knew that the Devil would do everything in his power to keep her safe. Kassie didn’t have that luxury. After a few minutes of Kassie's nervous twitching, Chloe took pity on the soul and said, “Lucifer, why don’t you lead the way?”

“Detective, you can see it from here,” he whined.

Chloe gave him a look that plainly said,  _ You’re missing something, Lucifer. _

He nodded and walked ahead. 

They walked through the trees rimming the lake and the sparkly emerald depths spread out in front of them. Kassie took a few steps forward and knelt at the edge of the lake, her hands hovering above the surface. “Is it safe?” she asked, turning back towards Chloe.

But it was Lucifer that answered. “It is, Miss Carlton. It’s just water.”

Kassie looked to Chloe for confirmation. “He never lies, Kassie. If he says it’s safe, it’s safe.” Kassie nodded and submerged her hands up to her wrists, wiping away the blood from her own murder that still clung to her skin. She stood slowly, kicked off her shoes and took a hesitant step into the lake. A smile broke out on her face. “The water feels amazing.” She took another step, then a third. When the water reached her neck, she took off swimming, a look of peace crossing her face.

A single fallen log sat on the shores of the lake. Chloe took a seat to watch Kassie swim.

“May I join you?” Lucifer asked.

Chloe nodded and scooted to the side of the tree to allow him room to sit. 

“Well, I suppose my suit’s already ruined,” he said with a smile.

She gave a little laugh.

“Are you okay?” Lucifer asked her.

Chloe took his hand in hers. “It feels like we’ve been here before.”

“It does. Hopefully this conversation won’t end with you getting shot by a mad priest. But you didn’t answer my question.”

Chloe sat in silence for a moment, watching Kassie backstroke through the water. Kassie was free. Years ago, Chloe had taken a vow to serve and protect. While she knew that not every officer took that seriously, Chloe did. And today, she upheld her vow. She had done the right thing. “I’m okay.” She gave Lucifer's hand a squeeze and smiled up at him. “It’s been a weird week, though hasn’t it?”

Lucifer laughed. “It hasn’t even been a week! The last time we sat on a log by a lake was Tuesday, and now it’s Friday.”

“It feels like longer,” she said, stroking the back of his hand with her thumb.

“Well, as you said, it’s been a rather eventful week.” Lucifer removed his hand from her grasp and put it on her back, scratching above her wings.

Chloe closed her eyes with a contented sigh. “Less than two months ago, I was an atheist. And now I’m sitting on a log by a lake in Hell with the Devil scratching my wings. But, somehow, everything is okay. We did good work today, Lucifer. We got Kassie justice. Twice. It feels nice. Even though everything has changed, it still stays the same.”

Kassie swam closer to shore and waved to Chloe. “Come in here! The water’s great!”

Chloe looked at Lucifer, a question in her eyes. “Go,” he said, smiling. “Have fun.”

Lucifer watched with joy as the two women splashed and played in the water like children. Chloe’s laughter echoed in the cold darkness of Hell.  _ Miracle,  _ he thought. Not only had she managed to liberate a soul from their loop, something he thought was impossible, but Chloe Jane Decker brought innocent, joyous laughter to Hell.

  
  


*****

They swam for what felt like hours. When they both tired, Chloe rejoined Lucifer on the log. He wrapped his wings around her to keep her warm. Kassie, however, sat silently on the shores, gazing across the clear water as the cool blue sun disappeared behind the jagged mountains.

“Does Hell have a moon?” Chloe asked in barely more than a whisper.

He shook his head. "It doesn't even get very dark at night. But, night is coming. We should figure out what to do with Kassie and get you home, Detective."

"Maybe I can help with that," a voice said behind them.

Lucifer sprang to his feet, standing between the newcomer and Chloe and Kassie.

"Chill, Lu. I come in peace and all that." A short, black haired angel with glasses stepped to the shore of the lake.

"Azrael?" Chloe said with a whisper.

"Oh! You remembered me!” The angel gave a nervous laugh. “I wasn't sure if you would. It was a busy day."

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here, sister?"

"Father sent me. It’s time for Kassie to go home. She doesn't belong here anymore."

_ “Father  _ sent you?” Lucifer said in shock.

Chloe rested a hand on his shoulder, stepping in front of him. "Kassie gets to go to Heaven?"

"Well, she can't stay here. Obviously. She’s not damned anymore." Azrael turned to the soul by the lake. "You ready to go, Kassie?"

Chloe looked back over her shoulder at Kassie and saw fear in the woman’s face.

"Azrael, will she be okay?" Chloe asked, turning back to the Angel of Death. “I need you to promise her safety.”

Azrael rolled her eyes. "Of course she’ll be safe. I’m taking her to Heaven." Lucifer scoffed at that, but Azrael ignored him. "Kassie, you’ve got a couple of grandparents who are expecting you."

Kassie's mouth opened in a hesitant grin as she stepped forward to stand beside Chloe. Chloe took her hand, squeezing it. When Kassie met her eyes, Chloe gave her a reassuring smile.

"Azrael," Lucifer said, "if you'll introduce Ms. Carlton to Charlotte Richards, I'm sure Charlotte can help with any adjustment issues."

Chloe smiled at the memory of the abrasive lawyer. "And if Charlotte comes off as a bit… much… ask to see my father, John Decker. Tell him I sent you." Chloe said with a smile. 

“This is really it? I get to find peace?” Kassie looked confused, like this was almost too good to be true.

Azrael nodded. “They’re calling you home, Kassie.”

Kassie turned to face Chloe. “Thank you doesn’t seem like enough to say, but it’s all I’ve got. Thanks for catching Harry. Thanks for saving me.”

Chloe shrugged. “I like to help people. It’s what I do. Knowing that you’re going someplace where you’ll be happy and safe is honestly all the thanks I need.” Chloe gave a laugh then. “I’m used to getting thank yous from family members after I find out who killed their loved one. This is the first time I’ve gotten one from the person who passed. It’s nice.”

Kassie smiled at that and wrapped Chloe in a hug. "Thank you," she whispered in Chloe's ear, “for me, for Kent, for all the people you’ve helped.” Chloe hugged her back, a peaceful expression on her face."Chloe, will you keep an eye on Kent for me?"

Chloe nodded, pulling away. "Of course. He'll join you up there eventually. Now, go. You've got better places to be."

“Keep on fighting the good fight, Chloe,” Kassie said.

“You do the same.”

Kassie smiled again, and stepped forward, taking Azrael's hand. "Smell ya later, Lu. Bye, Chloe." And, in a flurry of wings, they were gone.

"Well, Detective, you didn't quite make Hell freeze over, but you've certainly managed to do the impossible."

"It felt right," Chloe said, her eyes gazing down endless walkways filled with doors. "There's so many more, Lucifer."

He came up beside her, looping her arm through his and leading her along the shore of the lake away from the rows of doors. "We have time. But, my dear, I feel that you will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream."

The words were familiar to Chloe, but it took her a minute to place them. "Martin Luther King, Jr?"

Lucifer nodded. "Although the good Reverend Doctor got it from the Bible. Amos 5:24. Heaven got Doctor King."

"That’s good to know.” It took Chloe three more steps along the shore before something clicked in her head. She pulled Lucifer to a stop. “Wait, you have Bible verses memorized?" she asked.

"A few bits. Mostly the stuff involving me,” he said with a grin. “But, there's a few other parts I find interesting. Take Ezekiel 23:20 for example."

"What's that one say?"

"'There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys, and whose emissions were like that of a horse.'"

Chloe burst out laughing. "Is that really in the Bible?"

"It is! You should take a moment and read Song of Solomon as well, Detective. It's practically softcore porn. He drinks wine out of her belly button."

"Your idea?" she said with a knowing smirk.

"I may have been involved," he said, his tongue darting between his teeth and his cheek.

Chloe bent down then, taking a rock and skipping it along the surface of the lake. "If someone told me that this would be my life two months ago, I would have had them committed." She bent down to pick up another rock. "It's not as bad as I thought it would be, though."

"What's that?"

"Hell. There's a lot of work to be done here. Good work. We can help a lot of people."

And there was his Detective. Strong, stubborn, proud, beautiful and good. The light that had been missing from her eyes since she first saw the Devil's face was back. Lucifer looked at her with awe. "My Angel of Justice. My Queen.”

Chloe gave him a fond, smile and then looked back towards the cells. “Shouldn’t Hell be filled with demons, though?”

“They don’t like this section of Hell generally. I don’t let them play down here. And I told Hell to keep them away from us for the time being. Demons aren’t all as cuddly as Maze.”

She laughed at that. “I don’t think I’ll even describe Maze as cuddly.”

They stood in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other’s company. “Did your father create Hell?.” Chloe finally asked.

“You know, I never asked. I don’t know if he made her, along with her counterparts on Earth and Heaven, or if they were there before him.”

“Is Hell the place separate from Hell the being? What about Earth and Heaven?”

“Aren't you full of questions, Detective? I think they're one and the same, but I'm not entirely sure to be honest. And I know even less about Heaven and Earth. But, Heaven’s presence only responds to my father. Hell’s only responds to me and Earth’s responds to no one. The presence of Hell...”

“I’ve been thinking of her as the Voice.”

Lucifer smiled at that. “The Voice. I like it. She almost never takes a physical form, so that’s apt. Anyway, the Voice doesn’t seem terribly concerned with what goes on in Hell. If she feels motivated, she can move mountains, but from what I can tell, she mostly only does that if I manage to upset her.”

“Does she listen to you? Or is it the other way around?”

Lucifer shrugged. “She complies with my wishes for the most part. But she’s not afraid to tell me if she disagrees with my choices. She mostly likes to watch, I think. Bloody voyeur.”

“Is she watching us now?”

“Probably.”

“So the Voice came first?”

Lucifer nodded. “Then the 13 Elder demons. They were my mother’s creations. Terrifying for the most part. Father didn’t want them ruining his arts and crafts project, so he sent them here.”

“And by ‘arts and crafts project,’ you mean humanity?”

Lucifer nodded. “Humans had evolved into something that looked much like us by that point, but they didn’t have a certain spark that makes them so fascinating. Then Father sent down Adam and Lilith.”

“Not Adam and Eve?”

Lucifer shook his head. “Lilith first. But she wasn’t subservient enough for Adam, so Father sent her down to Hell. She's still here. Then Father created Eve from Adam’s rib.”

“Did you really tempt her with an apple?”

He grinned at that. “More like an eggplant.”

She rolled her eyes. “Because, of course you slept with the first woman you could find.”

“Not just Eve. Adam had strong hips.” Lucifer said with a grin.

She shook her head, smiling. “This doesn’t surprise me at all.”

“Well, I finally figured out what the bits between my legs were good for!” 

Chloe laughed again, noticing how Lucifer brightened every time he heard the sound. “So what happened next?”

“Well, Father wasn’t too terribly pleased with me, and he called me back to the Silver City. Adam and Eve went on to procreate, and their spawn interbred with the existing humans. We didn’t have any sort of calendar at the time, of course, but modern anthropologists have looked back and said this was when humans first achieved something they call ‘Behavioral Modernity.’ They said that it happened about 50,000 years ago.”

“How do you know about that?”

“I read!” Lucifer said, offended.

“I never said you didn’t. I just didn’t think ancient history would be high on your reading list.” He just shrugged at that.  _ Never let it be said that the Devil didn’t have layers,  _ she thought _. _ Chloe was very much looking forward to peeling them back. “So humans existed before Adam and Eve, but Adam and Eve were the ones that made humans special?”

Lucifer nodded. “They carried a divine spark. That spark changed the human race from soulless, glorified apes that could barely handle tools into a species that could create art and music. It allowed humans to have abstract thinking and gave them the ability to plan. Humanity needed the divine to evolve into their true potential. Anyway, that was all happening around the time that I ended up here. So I missed a lot of the fine points. Thus, my interest in what you call 'ancient history.'”

“Makes sense."

"Indeed."

"So, when did you come here?”

“It was after your ex-fiance was born, but before he killed his brother. Able was my first _guest_ in Hell.”

Chloe let that sink in for a minute. Apparently she had a thing for older men.  _ Much _ older men. “50,000 years,” she whispered. “You’ve been stuck here for 50,000 years.”

“Longer than that. Remember, time moves differently here.”

Chloe let her eyes wander back to the endless hallways of Hell. 50,000 years. More than that, really. No wonder he wanted to leave.

“Can I ask why you were sent here, Lucifer?”

He broke away, smiling at her and shoving his hands into his pockets. “That’s a story for another day, Detective. It’s high time we got you back home to your daughter.”

Home. Was Hell home now? Was this where she was supposed to be all along? Did God create her just to become the Queen of this place?

Maybe. But right now, home was Trixie. The rest would come in time.

*****

Daniel spent a solid minute gaping at the empty balcony before he was able to move again, walking into the kitchen to grab drink refills for Chloe and Lucifer.

And maybe another beer for him.

He placed two beers on the counter and reached for Lucifer’s scotch. It was a good thing his hands were empty at that moment, because he jumped when he heard a demon say, “Sup, Dan? Is that for me?” She grabbed one of the beers off the counter, cracked it open and took a long pull.

Woodenly, Dan opened the fridge to grab another beer. “That was for me.”

“Where’s the two feathered idiots?” Maze asked.

Dan gave a breathy laugh and stared at the beer in his hands. “This is all so crazy.”

Maze shrugged. “It’s life. You’ll get used to it. So where did the lovebirds go?”

He gave the same breathy laugh again and shook his head. “Hell, apparently?”

“Without me?” Maze said, sounding insulted.

“Apparently Chloe wanted to check on the soul of her murder victim.”

“Hmmm,” Maze said, staring at Dan in a way that was frankly unnerving. “And Lucifer took her down? Just like that?”

Dan gulped and nodded.

“They won’t be gone long.” Maze took another chug of her beer. She cocked her head at Dan. “Are we cool?”

Dan opened his beer. “This is all a lot.”

Maze shrugged. “I get that. Dan, you know that Trixie is safe, right? And that, by extension, you’re safe?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I would literally die before I let anything happen to the small human. So would Chloe. So would Lucifer. And by ‘anything,’ I also mean ‘anything that would upset her.’ And if something happened to you, Trix would be upset. You’re safer with me than you are cuddled at home behind your locked doors. Congratulations, you’ve got a demon bodyguard because I like your kid.”

Dan mulled that over, swishing his beer around. “Is my daughter going to Hell because she’s your friend?”

“Nope. That’s above my paygrade. Hell, that’s above  _ Lucifer’s  _ paygrade. Plus, I don’t want her there. Neither does Lucifer. We’ll keep her in line and make sure she gets to Heaven. But, who I’m worried about is you.”

“Me?”

“You’ve got to clean up your shit, Dan. Trix would want you to go to Heaven, which means you’ve got to pull your head out of your ass.”

“And how exactly do I do that?”

“That’s Linda’s department, not mine. I just get to play with them once they’re down there.” Maze stepped into Dan’s space, her gaze going cold. “And just imagine how pissed I’ll be if I find out that Trixie won’t get to spend eternity with her daddy because he couldn’t stop being a douche.”

Dan stepped back, his eyes going wide.

“You get me?”

He nodded.

“Take Linda up on the offer of therapy. You need it.” Maze snagged the beer from Dan’s hand and finished it off with one swig.

A whooshing sound came from the balcony. The door slid open to reveal Lucifer in all his winged glory. “Daniel! I need a drink!”

Chloe’s hands pulled him back outside. “Don’t shake your wings off in my living room! I’ll never get the ash out of the rug!”

_ There’s a sentence I never thought I’d hear,  _ Dan thought. He grabbed another beer and filled Lucifer’s glass before following Maze onto the balcony. Coming outside, he saw Chloe brushing ash of Lucifer’s suit and Maze leaned in close… sniffing him?

“I love the smell of home,” she said with a grin.   


“Well, bully for you!” Lucifer said. “I’ve ruined a perfectly good suit. This is Armani.” He shook out his wings, sending a cloud of sulfuric ash into the night sky. “Ah, good. Thank you for the drink, Daniel.” He took the glass tumbler from Dan’s hands, finishing it off in one swig. and then turned to Chloe. “Flying lessons. Tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry, what?” she said, her hand pausing on his back.

“I’m taking you and your spawn up to my place in the mountains. It’s high time you learned to fly.”

Dan looked from the adamant expression on Lucifer’s face to the wide eyed shock on Chloe’s and burst out laughing. “Chloe is  _ terrified  _ of heights!”

“I am not!” she said, brushing ash off Lucifer’s suit with more force that was strictly necessary.

“She is?” Maze said, her face breaking into a grin. “Did you take her up to the throne?”

“I did! And Hell redecorated. There’s two now.”

“What did her face look like when she saw how high you were?”

“She had a death grip on the arms of the throne, the poor thing.”

“Chloe?” Maze asked.

“The throne.”

“I am not terrified of heights!” Chloe interjected. “And really, I don’t think flying lessons are necessary. It’s not like I’ll be using my wings that much.”

“Can I watch?” Dan said, laughing at her expense. “This should be good for a laugh.”

“Of course!” Lucifer said. “I’ll text you the address.”

“No,” said Chloe. “There will be no flying lessons.”

Maze shot her a malicious grin. “I’m going to tell Trixie first thing in the morning that Lucifer is going to teach you how to fly. She’d love to watch.”

Chloe glared at her. “You’re evil.”

Maze’s smile just widened.

“Well, that’s settled. Detective, may I borrow your shower?” He said, shaking his head and dislodging more ash from his hair.

“Upstairs to the right,” she said with a sigh.

“Lovely.” He hid his wings and walked inside the house. Maze followed, murmuring something about stealing the Hell-scented suit. Dan handed Chloe her beer.

“Thanks,” she said, shaking out her own wings and sending ash flying.

“My life is so strange.”

“Tell me about it,” Chloe said, folding her wings away before she collapsed down into a chair.

“So, how was it?” 

“Different than I thought it would be. It was cold. Didn’t see that coming.”

“Was Kassie down there?”

Chloe nodded, shivering. “It was awful. But we busted her out. She’s in Heaven now”

“Lucifer can do that?”

“No. But apparently I can,” she said in a whisper.

“Wow.”

“Yeah.” 

They drank in silence for a minute, both lost in their own thoughts. Eventually, Chloe shifted in her seat so that she was facing Dan. “Down there, it didn’t seem weird. It felt right doing that for her. But here, sitting on my balcony, now that I’m thinking about it, it’s all really weird. Like  _ really weird. _ I mean, I’m just a cop. The most remarkable thing about me is that I took my top off on screen. This kind of stuff, saving souls from Hell, flying lessons, it just shouldn’t be happening to me. I’m boring. I liked being boring.”

Knowing that Chloe was freaked out calmed something inside of Dan. He wasn’t the only person whose life had been flipped upside down. “You are pretty boring. And this is all really weird, I’ll grant you that. But, you’re a helper. It’s in your nature. This just gives you another way to help make the world a better place.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah.” They drank in silence again, looking out over the city that was their home.

“Hey,” Dan said, “if Lucifer just ditched his suit, what’s he going to wear home?”

“Crap,” she said, putting her beer down on the table. “I can’t have him walking around here naked. What if Trixie wakes up? I’ve got some old sweatpants of yours that he can wear.” Chloe got up and headed inside.

“Chloe, he’s like six inches taller than me! He won’t fit.”

When Lucifer emerged from the bathroom, he found a pair of gray sweats and an LAPD t-shirt waiting for him in the hall. The Devil was not pleased about it. By the time he came downstairs in his highwater pants, Chloe was the only person left in the living room. She took one look at him and burst out laughing.

And, as always, the Detective’s laughter made everything a bit better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably spent more time than truly necessary googling things like "when did the first humans live?" and "when was the first human civilization?" for a small throwaway line of backstory. But, well, I'm a dork and I wanted there to be historical accuracy in this fictional tale. So, here's what I learned in my three hours at Google University: There are several different hypotheses about when, where, and how humans became behaviorally modern. Some hypotheses think it happened in one place and then spread, and others think it happened independently in different places throughout the world. The latter hypothesis seems to be the most widely accepted. However, there is one hypothesis out there that humans in one small area had a cognitive leap around 50,000 years ago. That hypothesis fit well into the story that I am trying to tell, and it gave me a nice easy way to have the creation of Adam and Eve and evolution exist in the same timeline. So, I ran with it. Yes, what I presented in this story is one of the main hypotheses, but there's tons of others, and they're a lot of fun to learn about. It was an absolutely fascinating topic to research. I highly recommend it if you are still looking for quarantine entertainment.
> 
> I also had to google "what is the plural of hypothesis." Apparently you just change the I to an E. Good to know.
> 
> And, yes, there really is a Bible verse talking about well-endowed men spilling large quantities of seed. Naughty :)


	17. Interlude: Airborne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flying lessons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first Interlude was labeled as such because it was potentially triggering. This is labeled as an interlude because it’s 6,500 of words of shameless, teeth-rotting fluff that doesn’t really fit in thematically with the rest of the overarching story. But, if you can’t find fun in flying lessons, you can’t find fun in anything.
> 
> Seriously, fluff warning. So much freaking fluff. Be sure to brush your teeth afterwards and enjoy! We’ll be back to angst in the final chapter. 
> 
> "I'll keep chapters under 4,000 words," I said. I lied.

At 5:30 the next morning, Chloe’s alarm went off. As she rolled over to turn it off, something struck her as odd, but her half asleep brain couldn’t place it. Why did she set her alarm for 5:30am on a Saturday, anyway? As she settled onto her back, she felt a twinge between her shoulder blades.

Oh right, Flying lessons. Because she was an angel now. 

That was why it felt different to just roll over and turn off her alarm. This was the first time since her transformation that she’d woken up with her wings still tucked in her back.

Chloe sat up and felt them twitch again, accompanied by a deep, muscular ache. She stretched her arms and her back, but it wasn’t enough. Slowly, she let her wings out for a stretch. Oh, that felt nice. Unfortunately, her bedroom wasn’t big enough to release all the tension, but it was better. They hadn’t ached like this the previous two mornings. Maybe it would be more comfortable to sleep with them unfurled.

Sitting back against the headboard, she stretched the wings out in front of her, examining her feathers.  _ My feathers. I have feathers.  _ It still felt strange. But they really were pretty. Each feather faded from yellow to orange to a deep red. As she moved the wings around, different colors became more prominent. Folded tight, they looked mostly red, but when she opened them, all of their colors glistened and danced like flames. Appropriate for the future Queen of Hell.

Although, come to think about it, she hadn’t seen a single fire while she had been down there. 

Chloe furled her wings, went downstairs and cracked open the door to Trixie's room. Her daughter was curled up into a ball, deeply asleep. Chloe laid down on the bed behind her, wrapping her arm around her daughter's waist. "It's too early, Mom," Trixie whined.

Giving a little laugh, Chloe kissed her daughter on the back of the head. "It’s time to get up. We have a busy day today."

Trixie opened her eyes, giving an almost comically large stretch. Suddenly she froze, turning towards Chloe. "Mom, was yesterday a dream?"

Chloe manifested her wings again, her left falling off the edge of the mattress and the right covering her daughter. "Nope."

Trixie looked over her shoulder, grinning at her mother, then laid back down, tugging the wing up to cover her small shoulders.

Chloe laughed as tiny fingers sunk into her feathers. "That tickled!"

Trixie giggled. "They're warm. I like them."

"I'm glad,” Chloe said, squeezing her daughter tight. “Hey, Trixie, would you like to help me learn how to fly today?"

Trixie sat up in bed, letting the wing fall down to only cover her legs. "Really?"

"Really."

"Seriously?" She said, trembling with excitement.

"Yup."

"Will you give me a ride?"

Chloe grinned. "I don't know if I'll be ready for that today. But maybe,  _ maybe  _ you can ask Lucifer to take you up."

Trixie squealed and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. "Thank you, Mom! Thank you, thank you  _ thank you!" _

"You're welcome, Monkey. Now hop out of bed. It's a long drive. If you hurry, we can pick up donuts on the way."

Trixie leaned back, narrowing her eyes at her winged mother. "Will there be chocolate donuts?” 

****

Linda was curled up on the couch in her office, a book on body dysmorphia in her hands, one on gender dysphoria sitting next to her, and a third on long-term effects on sexual assault sitting on her coffee table when her phone pinged.

_ Lucifer: Good morning, Doctor! I was doing a quick morning flight and saw your car in the office parking lot. I picked up some bagels if you’d like a bit of brekkie. _

_ Linda: Lucifer, I’m always in the office on Saturday morning. You know that. Did you have something you wanted to discuss?  _

_ Lucifer: I wanted to bring you breakfast! _

Linda sighed, shaking her head. How very Lucifer, to tell the truth while obscuring reality.

_ Linda: I was just doing some research, come on in. _

Two seconds later, her door burst open, exposing a grinning Devil holding a bakery bag and a to-go cup of coffee. Wearing… a black t-shirt and jeans? With curly hair?  “Good morning, Doctor!"

“Lucifer!” Linda squeaked, rushing over to her desk to hide the books from him. “That was quick! What brings you around so early on a Saturday?” she asked, smiling as she turned back to him.

“I wanted to bring my favorite Doctor a delicious treat, of course!”

“And?” she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Can’t a Devil spoil his therapist?” He held out the bag, wiggling it in her face.

She rolled her eyes at him and took the bakery bag, sitting down in her chair.

“Interesting outfit. Bit of a change from your usual look.”

He grinned. “Do you like it?" He turned, showing off his rather remarkable rear. "The Detective is getting flying lessons today. It’s sure to be a messy affair, so I thought that I would forgo the suit.”

“And the hair?”

“Well, it will get messy anyway…” he said, fiddling with his ring.

“And?”

“The Detective said it looked cute like this,” he said quietly.

Linda reminded herself that she was a professional. She would not laugh at that or shoot him gooey heart eyes. “How did things go after I left last night?”

“Oh, my Queen and I took a little tour of Hell. Released a soul from damnation. All in all, a pretty tame Friday night.”

Professional therapists also do not let their jaws drop to the floor. But, most professional therapists don’t have the devil as a patient. “I thought you told me that wasn’t possible.”

“Oh, it isn’t for me, but apparently, that’s the Detective’s gift,” Lucifer grinned then. “You should have seen her, Doctor, she was magnificent. She just asked questions and let the soul talk. Then, at the end, she used her gift and the soul’s guilt just melted away. Her door opened, and my sister took her to Heaven. You would have been proud, Doctor. It was almost like watching therapy for the damned.”

“Well, what good police officers do in the interrogation room has its roots in therapeutic techniques. I’m sure that Chloe has received some training in either college or the police academy.”

“Of course,” Lucifer said, pensive. Then his eyes brightened as an idea crossed his mind. From extensive experience, Linda knew this often led to trouble. “Maybe she could become your apprentice! I’m sure that you could help her improve.”

Well, it could have been worse. “I thought you said she was magnificent,” Linda said, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, she was! But the soul that she, well, that she  _ saved, _ had only been in Hell for a short time, and her guilt wasn’t deep. I’m afraid that they all won’t be that easy,” Lucifer petered off, distracted.

“I’ll talk to her about it and recommend some reading materials, but taking some classes may be the first thing she should do.”

“Good idea, Doctor. As always,” Lucifer muttered.

Linda let him sit with his thoughts for a moment before asking, “What’s on your mind, Lucifer?”

He started, “Hmm? Oh. Not much, really. Just thought of someone. A soul. Someone in Hell."

"Someone that you believe shouldn't be there?"

He nodded. "Her name is Beata."

"Did you know her on Earth as well?

He sat back, crossing his legs. "I met her on one of my trips to Earth, yes. Oh, it has to be 300 years ago in the area that is now the Czech Republic."

"What made her stand out to you?

"Well, she was extraordinarily lovely, Amazingly flexible and inventive in the bedroom," Lucifer said with a false grin.

"But there was more to her?"

Lucifer was silent. Linda knew him well, though. He would speak when he was ready.

Lucifer’s eyes turned to his long fingers as they began idly fiddling with the couch cushion as he spoke. "Her parents had her life mapped out for her. Marry some ham-handed dolt, pop out babies and die. But she wanted more. She was brilliant. She had spark, fire and a joie de vivre like you wouldn't believe.” He smiled at the memory then sat up straighter, looking into Linda’s eyes. “So, I provided her with a connection and means to travel, and she escaped out of the dark little burg where I found her. I thought I’d set her up for life. Anyway, as per the usual, Amenadiel came down and drug me back to Hell and I thought that was the end of it. Beata ended up as a successful trader, eventually employing other single women to help her along. She made quite a splash! But, at the time, people didn’t like women who struck out on their own. Her father found her. He said that she brought 'disgrace' to their family. Beata was beaten, raped, accused of consorting with the ‘d’abel,’ and killed.” Lucifer reached down, as if to play with his cufflinks, only to be reminded that he wasn’t wearing any that day. “Anyway, she wouldn’t be the first human that I’d helped along that ended up in Hell, nor the last, but something about her stuck with me. I tried to get her out of her loop, but I wasn’t successful. I wonder if the Detective could do better.”

“Maybe,” Linda nodded. “It can’t hurt to try. As Chloe walks down these paths, though, she’ll need historical context. For everything else she is, she is a person living in a modern time with modern sensibilities. If Chloe does choose to go back to school, you may suggest history classes as well.”

Lucifer’s eyes brightened a bit at that suggestion. “Of course, Doctor. That’s brilliant, Doctor.” He leaned forward placing his elbows on his knees. Linda smiled, knowing that Lucifer was about to get to the reason for his visit. “Now, speaking of the Detective, I actually came here for some advice.”

“Not just to bring me breakfast?” Linda said with a sly grin.

The Devil rolled his eyes. “Very well, you caught me. No, I wanted to know how to conquer phobias. Specifically, a fear of heights.”

“You’re afraid of heights?” Linda said, not quite able to keep a laugh out of her voice. Professionalism be damned.

“Of course not!”

“You have wings!”

“It’s not for me, it’s for the Detective!”

“Ahhh, yes,” Linda said, sighing.

“Yes indeed. So, Doctor, what do you have”

“Well, dealing with phobias isn’t my primary skill set, but exposure therapy may help. Gentle exposure, Lucifer. Don’t throw her off a cliff.”

Lucifer’s eyes, which had momentarily brightened with enjoyment, suddenly fell.

“Chloe will have to be able to find a way to rationalize her fear as well. Maybe reiterate that she won’t be hurt if she falls, or start with techniques to teach her to come to a gentle landing while still on the ground.”

“Okay. Teach her to glide and stop first. Got it. Anything else?”

“Relaxation is key. Deep breaths. Have her find a way to center herself. She’s generally already pretty good at doing that, so it should come easily for her.”

“Because she’s magnificent,” he said with a grin.

“That she is.”

His expression turned distant, but his grin stayed in place. “She brought laughter to Hell, Doctor. Real, genuine, joyous laughter. I didn’t think that was possible.” He was silent for a moment. “I don’t want to punish her anymore, Doctor. I want to make her happy.”

*****   
  


Maze pounded on Dan’s front door. He opened it, bleary eyed. “Maze, it’s 9am on a Saturday. What do you want?” 

“Want to go watch your ex-wife jump off tall objects?”

Dan blinked twice, then smiled. “Give me a minute to get dressed,” he said, walking into his bedroom.

“You’re riding bitch on my bike, by the way,” Maze called after him.

“How about I follow you in my own car?” he yelled, shutting the door.

“Wuss,” Maze grumbled.

*****

Three hours later after leaving the donut shop, Chloe and Trixie pulled up to a house perched high on the side of a mountain overlooking a tree-filled valley. When Lucifer told Chloe of the location he’d chosen, he insisted that all the land in the valley below and the mountains on the other side belonged to him and was thus free of prying human eyes, giving them ample room to stretch their wings.

Trixie hopped out, gushing over the house’s solid wall of windows that faced the valley below, while her mother dug around in the trunk for a bag of snacks. Trixie’s eyes rolled out over the valley, suddenly catching sight of something approaching from the air to the south.

As it got closer, Trixie realized that she wasn’t seeing a bird. Massive white wings cut through the air, soaring high above the valley below and circling over their heads.

“Mom,” she whispered.

“Trix, I think the sunscreen rolled under the seat. Can you reach down there and get it for me?”

“Mom!” she said, pulling on her mother’s shirt. “Look!”

Chloe stood up and looked where her daughter was pointing, her face breaking into a grin.

“He’s beautiful,” Trixe gasped.

Chloe wrapped an arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “Yeah, Monkey, he is.”

As Lucifer came in for a landing, the early morning light caught his wings, making them glow. When his feet touched the ground a minute later, he deposited several bags at his feet, shaking his wings out and putting them away. 

“Good morning, Ladies! Welcome to my humble abode. What do you think?”

Trixie stared at him with a doofy grin, while Chloe walked towards him, reaching for his hair. “I like your curls,” she said, running her fingers through his untamed hair.

Lucifer smiled at the compliment, then a slightly embarrassed expression crossed his face. “Yes, well, it’s going to get all windblown today anyway, so I figured I wouldn’t bother.” He gestured towards Chloe. “I see you dressed for the occasion as well.”

“Well, I wasn’t quite sure what to wear. And I didn’t have any flowing white gowns for angel flight, so I had to make due with yoga pants and a tank top.”

“You look lovely as always, Detective,” he said, running his fingers down her braid.

As per the usual, Lucifer’s compliments didn’t upset Chloe in the least. His chocolate gaze caught her own as she felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth.

“Kiss her,” Trixie whispered, under her breath. Unfortunately, the two beings could hear better than humans, and broke away, both looking embarrassed. “You could hear that?” Trixie said, shocked.

“Yes,” Chloe said, “so keep that in mind if you are doing something that you shouldn’t be doing. Now, go grab the sunscreen. We’re going to be out all day today, and I don’t want you to burn.”

Trixie rolled her eyes and dove into the backseat of the car. They pulled their collective bags into the home’s open plan main space. Two stories of glass looked out over the valley, and a spiral staircase led up to a loft containing the main bedroom. As seemed to be typical for Lucifer’s tastes, the only doors in the main part of the house were to the powder room downstairs, and the master bath upstairs. Several guest bedrooms filled the basement below them. After putting the groceries away, they all spilled out onto a balcony off the main living area. As Chloe tentatively walked to the edge, she saw a drop of a little over a story down to the small yard and driveway below. Stairs led from there back up to the balcony.

Honestly, he couldn’t have picked a better place for her to take her first baby steps. Baby flaps?

Lucifer placed a large wooden box next to the wide railing of the balcony. “I thought we could start here, Detective. Step up on the box and give a little flap. See how it goes.”

“Mom doesn’t like heights,” Trixie grinned from her chair next to the house. She had a bag of peanuts in her lap and was chewing happily.

“I can handle stepping on a box, Trixie,” Chloe said, irritatedly.

“Right next to a long fall,” her daughter said with a grin that was eerily reminiscent of Maze’s. 

“Enough from the peanut gallery, Urchin. You’re not helping,” Lucifer said. He took Chloe’s hand. “I’m right here, okay?”

“Since she’s an angel, will she even get hurt if she falls?”

Lucifer tensed, “Yes, Spawn, I speak from experience when I say that an angel can be hurt from a fall. But, no, going 15 feet into the yard below won’t hurt your mother.”

Chloe gave his hand a quick squeeze and stepped onto the box. “Trixie, hush. I’m nervous enough. Let’s not get the Devil riled up too.”

“Did you really fall from Heaven, Lucifer? Did it hurt?” Trixie asked suddenly, eyes wide.

“Trixie! Enough!”

“Sorry, Mom,” she said, her head dropping.

“It’s okay. Now apologize to Lucifer.”

“Detective, there’s no need. Urchin, yes, I really fell from Heaven. Yes, it hurt. But, I would not do anything that could hurt your mother. She’s perfectly safe.”

Trixie hopped off her chair and walked up to him, placing her hand in his. “I’m sorry you were hurt, Lucifer.”

He shot a confused look at the girl before giving her hand a squeeze and pulling away. “Yes, well, it was a long time ago. Right now, we need to get your mother airborne. Go and take her other hand. Give her moral support. Detective, wings out.”

Chloe took a deep breath and released her wings.

Oh, this was nice. 

From her perch on the box, she felt the wind whisper through her feathers. She lifted them high above her head, giving them a stretch and let her eyes fall closed.

“You feel it, don’t you Detective? The wind calling you?”

She dropped her head back and sighed. “It’s wonderful.” A gust ruffled her feathers and she brought her wings down to fan out from her sides. The movement pulled her feet a few inches of the box. Trixie gave a yelp as her mother went momentarily airborne, pulling Trixie with her.

Chloe stumbled back down to the ground, putting the railing in a death grip. She looked down at her daughter shocked. “Trixie! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

“Wow, those things really work!” 

“Sorry, Monkey, they’ve got a lot of lift.”

Lucifer grumbled, tugging on her other hand. “I would hope so, Detective. They are wings after all. Step down now, let’s teach you how to glide and stop.” 

Chloe cast a look out on the valley below her as the wind playfully ruffled through her feathers again. The human part of her that was very much afraid of heights was slowly getting pushed back by the angel who wanted to soar. With a slightly disappointed sigh, she hopped down from the box.

Lucifer, as it turned out, was not the best flight instructor. For starters, he hadn’t hadn’t flown on a regular basis in years, and he’d long since been cut off from younger siblings that needed to learn. They'd squabble when he’d gloss over things that her rather detail oriented mind found important. After he finally snapped at her, saying, “I don’t know how to hover, I just do it” Trixie piped up again from where she was sitting against the house, “Why don’t you call your brother, Lucifer? Maybe he can help Mom learn.”

They both turned to her, surprise on their face. “You know, Urchin, that’s not a terrible idea. Amenadiel taught all of us how to fly.” Lucifer folded his hands and looked up to the Heavens.

“What are you doing?” Chloe asked.

But Lucifer remained silent for a minute longer. He released his hands and turned back to her. “Praying.”

“To Amenadiel?”

“Yes.”

“Angels can hear prayers?”

“Of course.”

“How come you didn’t tell me this earlier?”

“I thought you already knew.”

“Lucifer! How would I possibly know that?”

He tilted his head, confused. “You’re a cop. Don’t they teach you all that obnoxious prayer to my twin that involves lots of violence towards a handsome Devil?”

“Well, yes, but I didn’t know that was real!”

“Why wouldn’t it be real?”

“So Saint Michael just sits around and listens to prayers all day?”

“Don’t call him ‘Saint.’ He’s a tool. No, of course not. That’s ridiculous. Prayers only work if you really believe.”

“Lots of people ‘really believe.’”

“They don’t believe enough, though. It usually only works if you know the angel in question.”

Just then, a voice entered into Chloe’s mind.  _ Mom? Can you hear me? _

Chloe’s head jerked towards her daughter. Her hands were folded like Lucifer’s had been, and her head was looking towards the sky. “Monkey? Did you just…”

Trixie opened her eyes, grinning. “You can hear me! That’s so cool!"

Chloe blinked twice at her daughter. “I need to sit down.” She walked back into the house, folding her wings into her back.

“Did I do something wrong?” Trixie whispered to Lucifer.

“No, Urchin, you’re fine. I just think your mother has maxed out on new information for the week.”

Chloe locked herself in the first floor powder room and sat down on the toilet. Unfortunately, this left a full length mirror directly in front of her. The perfected angelic body in the reflection wasn't doing anything to calm her nerves. “Really, Lucifer?” she muttered. “Who wants to watch themselves poop?” She didn’t know why prayers of all things made her spiral, but having one more thing that she’d always thought was crap be confirmed as true seemed to push her over the edge. Ten minutes. She’d give herself 10 minutes to freak out in the bathroom before going back out to see what kind of trouble her nine year old daughter managed to find with the Devil.

But only five minutes later there was a shy knock on the door. “Mom? Can I come in? We made you tea.”

Chloe straightened up, wiping the tears from her face and let her daughter in. Trixie shut the door behind her and sat on the floor, holding a steaming mug of tea towards her mother.

“Thanks, Monkey,” she said, taking the tea. It smelled delicious. “I’m sorry I freaked out.”

Trixie shrugged. “It’s okay. This is all probably pretty weird for you.”

Chloe gave a fond smile to her smart, caring, compassionate, little Monkey. “Yeah, it is. But not for you?”

Trixie thought for a minute, scrunching her nose. “Maybe a bit? But it’s mostly good. Lucifer told me you’re immoral.”

Chloe smiled. “I think you mean 'immortal.'”

“That’s it!” Trixie said with a grin. “It means you can’t get hurt anymore! So I don’t have to worry about you while you’re at work!”

She reached out, tucking a strand of hair behind her daughter’s ear. “Oh, Monkey, did you worry about me alot?”

“Sometimes. I knew Lucifer would keep you safe, but I still worried. But now I don’t have to anymore. So that’s nice. And I like the idea of praying to you. It means that I can always talk to you. So, if I don’t have my phone on me, I can still reach you!”

Chloe hadn’t thought about that and decided that her daughter having emergency access to her brain at all times was potentially the best part of becoming an angel. For the rest of her life, if Trixie was ever in trouble, Chloe was only a prayer away. “You know, Monkey, I like the sound of that. Maybe I should get back to learning how to fly so that I can always get to you super fast if you need me.”

Trixie grinned and stood, opening the door and dragging Chloe back into the living room. “Awesome! Amenadiel just got here. His wings are gray. They aren’t as pretty as yours or Lucifer’s but they’re still  _ really  _ cool.”

“Did you hear that, brother?” Lucifer said, grinning. “My wings are prettier than yours.”

Amenadiel rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, you’ve been telling us that for years. Yours are ‘the most beautiful in all the Heavens.’”

Lucifer caught Chloe’s eye and smiled. “Well, they used to be anyway. Are you alright, Detective?”

She nodded, smiling back at him. “Thanks for the tea.” She turned to Amenadiel. “It’s good to see you again. Thanks for coming down.”

He nodded his head towards her, a smile in his eyes. “As the eldest sibling, it was my job to train the younger angels and keep them in line. Some were more difficult than others,” he said, shooting a glare at his younger brother.

Lucifer grinned back.

“Amenadiel, why are you wearing a dress?” Trixie asked.

Lucifer burst out laughing.

*****

An hour later, Amenadiel had gone over all the basics of flight with Chloe, while Lucifer sat back with Trixie, munching on snacks and offering less than helpful suggestions. Once all her questions had been answered, Chloe stepped up onto the box, opening her wings. Then, pushing back her nerves, she stepped up onto the wide railing of the balcony, shooting a nervous glance to the ground below her. The wind caught her, and instinctively, she used her wings to balance herself. “Good, Chloe. That’s really good. Close your eyes, feel the wind.” Amenadiel placed a hand on her arm. “You’re okay, Chloe. Take your time. When you feel ready, step off and glide to the ground."

Chloe could feel the wind, whipping around her and fluffing her wings. She could do this. She was a freaking  _ angel.  _ She always had been, really. She was born to fly. Chloe spread her wings to catch a draft as Amenadiel had taught her, took a deep breath, and stepped into the void.

The wind caught under her wings pushing her up. Panic flowed through her and her eyes shot open. She was above the roof of the house now. Everything Amenadiel taught her flew out of her brain as the wind caught her wings, pushing her higher. She screamed and brought her wings into her side, plummeting towards the driveway below her, landing with a crash, the pavement spider webbing out around her.

The first thing she heard was a demon cracking up laughing. “See, Dan? I told you we’d get here in time for the show.”

“Chloe!” Dan yelled, rushing towards her.

“Mommy!”

“Detective! Are you hurt?”

“Only my pride,” she said, pushing herself into a sitting position. She lifted up her left wing, looking at the rumpled mess that was her feathers.

Lucifer jumped down from the balcony above, his hands on her face immediately, looking for non-existent wounds. Trixie’s footsteps thundered down the stairs and Dan skidded to a stop in front of her, trying to push Lucifer aside to look for injuries. 

“Chloe? Can you move your toes? Who is the president?”

“Dan, I don’t have a concussion,” Chloe grumbled.

Trixie flung herself into her mother’s lap. “Mom! Are you okay?”

Chloe wrapped her arms around her daughter. “I’m fine. Remember, Monkey? Immortal.” She stood, holding her daughter in her arms and looking up towards the balcony. “Amenadiel? What did I do wrong?”

“You freaked out and closed your wings. Idiot.” Maze said with a grin.

Amenadiel sighed at Maze’s comment. “Chloe, you caught a gust just as you stepped off. It pushed you up. Instead of going with it, you closed your wings and fell.”

“Like an idiot,” Maze laughed.

Chloe copied Amenadiel’s lead and ignored Maze. “Okay. Let’s do it again.” Chloe walked back up the stairs.

But that first fall, even though it didn’t hurt, seemed to take some of the wind out of her. Her second flight was just as problematic as the first and she fell. Again, and again, and again.

By the fifth fall, her wings were looking noticeably bedraggled, and Amenadiel suggested that she take a few minutes to straighten her feathers before trying again. The others stayed upstairs to get started on lunch while Lucifer led her to a room in the basement. “I figured that you’d like some privacy, Detective.”

“Thanks,” she said.

“Well,” he said, clearing his throat, “I’ll just leave you to it, then.”

“Lucifer?” she asked, her voice quiet. “Will you help me?”

Lucifer paused, shoving his hands into his pockets. “That’s a rather… personal request, Detective.”

“I know,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Is that okay?”

He nodded, and she saw his Adam’s apple bob up and down. “Okay. Just, um, well this room isn’t very big. Do you… would it be okay if…”

“How about I sit on the bed, and you sit behind me?”

“Okay.” They settled on the bed, Chloe facing out to the windows towards the valley, She felt Lucifer’s warm breath on her neck as he joined her. He was breathing fast. “I’m going to just…”

“Okay,” she said.

Lucifer’s fingers gently touched a feather near her where her wings joined her back, straightening it and laying it flat. Chloe let out a moan of relief as the feather slid into place. Lucifer moved onto the next, and the one after that, and every touch sent electricity coursing through her body. Her breath picked up, and heat began to pool low in her belly. Lucifer placed his spare hand at the base of her other wing, running his thumb up and down along her spine. He moved to the next feather, and the next. When he smoothed his hand along the top ridge of the wing, Chloe shuddered under his touch as her breath hitched. “Lucifer,” she breathed.

And suddenly, he was gone, halfway across the room. “I’m sorry, Detective.”

“No, I’m sorry, I should have…”

“No, you have nothing to apologize for, I should have known…

“No, I let myself get carried away, and…” she stopped, burying her face in her hands as heat rose to her cheeks.

Suddenly, he was kneeling in front of her. “Detective, don’t be upset, please.”

She shook her head. “I’m so sorry. I should have known what that would feel like, and I asked anyway and, well, I would like to… you know, but we’re just not there yet.”

He pulled her hands from her face and brushed a thumb across her cheek. “Chloe, I’ve wanted this for a long time. Wanted  _ you.  _ You know that. And I’m afraid I got a bit… overenthusiastic just now.”

Chloe’s head jerked up. “You still...after everything, you...?” But she couldn’t say the words, her fear of his rejection was too great.

Lucifer smiled, though, and nodded. “But, when it happens between us, I want it to be real. Not just because I’ve got my hands in your feathers. Do you understand?”

_ Not ‘if’ but ‘when.’  _ Chloe nodded. “I want that too. I want it to be real.” She closed her eyes, pushed her libedo down and straightened her back. “Okay, so I still need my wings fixed, but I need a distraction, I think. Something to keep me from thinking about… well, you know.”

“I have an inkling,” he said, quirking an eyebrow. “I could tell you all about Lux’s liquor orders. Surely that’s boring enough.”

“Don’t you have people do that for you?”

“I order my personal stock through the club. Saves a bit of money.”

“Is that legal?”

Lucifer gave her a wickedly handsome grin, “Are you going to arrest me, Detective?”

She smacked his arm. “Not helping. Dork.”

He laughed and moved to sit behind Chloe again. “You ready?”

“Yeah.”

“We’ll start with the scotches.”

“Of course…”

*****

During lunch, Lucifer and Amenadiel brainstormed methods to get Chloe airborne. The one they settled on terrified her, but they insisted it would be easier.

So that’s how she found herself standing on the balcony again, her back pressed against Lucifer’s front with one of his arms wrapped around her waist and the other between her breasts. She wiggled a bit to get more comfortable and felt something hard press into her back. “Please try and stay still, Detective,” he said with a groan.

“Sorry.”

He took a deep breath in and out. “Remember to hook your legs around mine once we get up, Detective. You’ll feel more secure.”

“I hate this plan.”

He laughed at that. “Amenadiel will be with us the whole time. You remember how to land, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” And with one flap of his powerful wings, he propelled them both into the air.

_ “I wasn’t ready yet!”  _ she shouted as he flew them higher. The ground was a long way away.

Lucifer laughed again. “Wrap your legs around mine. We’re going high.”

“Watch out for planes, brother!” Amenadiel yelled from beside them.

_ “Planes!?!” _

“You’ll be fine. Remember, open your wings the second I let go. Ready?”

_ “NO!” _

“One… Two….”

_ “I HATE YOU!” _

“Three! Open your wings!”

And then she was falling. Amenadiel and Lucifer dived down close to her. “ _ Open your wings!” _

And, with a snap, she was gliding.

_ “Well done, Detective!”  _ Lucifer shouted.  _ “Now give them a flap!” _

And, just like that, she was flying. Through shouts and prayers, the three communicated, teaching Chloe loops, twists and turns. And it was wonderful. She turned to Lucifer, smiling, and shouted at him.  _ “This is fun!” _

He grinned back. “Can you keep up with me?” Lucifer folded his wings close to his back and dove. She chased after him as he plummeted down to the valley below. He leveled off as he neared the ground into a gentle glide. Chloe plummeted below him before leveling her descent and rising again to fly side by side with the Devil. When she came up beside him, he was openly laughing at her. “Overshot it a bit, did you?”

“I’m new at this,” she grumbled. “It’ll just take a bit to work out the kinks.”

“I’d like to work out your kinks,” he leered.

Chloe turned to him, and felt her heat rise to her face. His expression fell and he looked towards the horizon. “That was inappropriate. Sorry, I… Detective! Pull up!”

“Shit,” she said, noticing her increasing proximity to the mountains surrounding the valley. She worked the muscles in her wings to give herself more altitude.  _ Mountain. Don’t run into a mountain because you’re distracted by your  _ _libido_. When she rejoined Lucifer, she could feel embarrassment heating her skin from her head to her toes.   


“Are you okay?” he said, concerned.

“No. Yeah. I’m fine. Just fine.” She hovered beside him, too embarrassed to meet his eyes. She felt a rush of wind hit her face from his wings as he flew closer.

“You’re doing so well, Chloe.”

“Yeah?” she said, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

“Well, for a  _ beginner,  _ I mean. You definitely could have done better pulling out of that dive. Really, that was quite sloppy.” But Lucifer’s pleased grin took all the bite out of his words. “I guess it wasn’t that bad for a former human who is scared of heights.”

“Well, I guess heights aren’t that bad,” she laughed, looking out at the valley below. “The view is nice.”

“Yes it is,” Lucifer said, softly. When Chloe looked back at him, he wasn’t looking at the picturesque valley. He was looking at her. Chloe felt her smile fade as the wind pushed her closer to him. His eyes locked onto hers, and she felt herself falling into them.

But that was okay. He would catch her.

Chloe jumped back with a startled flap of wings as Amenadiel buzzed over them. “Let’s work on landing, Chloe! You’ve got hovering down.” 

Lucifer cleared his throat, fidgeting at his wrist and then dropping his arms when his wandering fingers couldn’t find cufflinks to adjust. “Lovely idea, brother. Just grand.” He sighed and turned back to Chloe. “Ready to land, Detective?”

It was Chloe’s turn to awkwardly clear her throat. “Yeah. Sure. Of course”

They turned back towards the house on the side of the mountain, slowing their descent. Lucifer landed gently on the lawn below the balcony. Chloe came in a bit faster and her legs collapsed when she hit the ground, her momentum forcing her into a roll. She came to a stop against Lucifer’s legs. “I did it,” she said, looking up at him and smiling.

“You did it,” he said, pulling her to her feet. Chloe didn’t release his hands as her eyes once again met his.

“Your hair’s a mess,” she said with a smile.

“You should see yours.”

“I like it though.” The world fell away, and all she saw was chocolate eyes in a perfect face, framed by piles of untamed curls. _ What do I desire?  _ she thought 

But, she’d known what she desired for ages. Now, she had to be brave enough to ask for it. Fear of rejection pounded in her veins as she raised herself onto her toes and gently brushed her lips against Lucifer’s. He didn’t kiss her back. Chloe pulled away, looking up at him, embarrassed. Her eyes were full of emotions that she couldn’t quite name “Was that okay?” she asked. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have...”

But her words were cut off as he bent down, crushing his lips to hers. Chloe wrapped her arms around his neck and gave a squeak against his lips as he pulled her off her feet, pressing her body to his.

“Fucking  _ finally,”  _ came Maze’s voice from the balcony above.

Chloe broke away from him, blushing as she realized that they had an audience. She looked up to see Maze looking annoyed, Dan looking slightly nauseous, and Trixie looking like she was about to burst from her skin with joy.

*****

Maze left shortly after, claiming that it wasn’t as much fun now that Chloe wasn’t falling all the time. Dan and Amenadiel disappeared into the house shortly afterwards. When Dan emerged half an hour later, his eyes were rimmed with red. “We talked about Charlotte,” Amenadiel said in explanation. Amenadiel flew home soon after. Dan stuck around for a bit. Chloe didn’t ask, but she had a strong suspicion that Dan still wasn’t overly thrilled with his daughter hanging out with the Devil. After watching the two of them sweep around the valley for awhile, he seemed comfortable enough to leave his daughter without human supervision. He gave a tense nod to Lucifer, wrapped his arms around Chloe’s shoulders, careful to avoid her wings, and hugged Trixie goodbye, promising to pick her up at noon the next day. Which left Trixie, Lucifer and Chloe alone to practice the finer points of flying. 

After he felt comfortable with Chloe’s ability to take off and land, Lucifer finally allowed a very excited Trixie to climb into his arms, grumbling about sticky fingers. Trixie’s squeal of delight echoed over the whole valley as they took to the air. Chloe flew alongside them, laughing as Lucifer continually adjusted his grip to keep the wiggling girl safe in his arms. 

And what a difference that a week could make? She had gone from a human, absolutely terrified of the Devil, to an angel, happy to fly alongside him as he held her daughter safe in his arms. She’d been burned, but she emerged from the flames stronger than she had been before. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want a happy ending before the approximately month-long break until the next story posts, you can stop here. It really does get angsty in the next chapter.
> 
> (don't kill me) I'm going camping again this weekend, and am planning on leaving my laptop at home. Expect the final chapter on Tuesday, or, at the latest Wednesday. The last chapter is complete, it just needs editing.


	18. Torn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strange things are happening in Heaven and Hell. Chloe and Lucifer share a moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want a happy ending before a month-long posting break, you may want to hold off on reading this chapter.
> 
> Lucifer shares two anecdotes in this tale. Both are based off the real-life experiences of my friends.
> 
> This chapter may be triggering to some. See the end notes for Trigger Warnings.

Chloe was 95% sure that she was going to sleep with the Devil today.

The slow fire that had been simmering under the surface for years had turned into a full-on inferno the second that he touched her wings. She’d loved him for quite a while, and she’d always noticed him, but now she  _ wanted  _ him. She wanted to show him that she accepted him, that she wasn’t afraid. She’d made a mistake, and now it was time to set it right.

Dan came by at noon on the dot to pick up Trixie. The second he walked in the door, the first words out of her mouth were, “Dad! Lucifer took me flying!”

After spending 15 minutes calming Dan down and assuring them that Trixie had been perfectly safe, Chloe ushered them both out of the door, so that she could get ready for her date with the Devil.

Dressing for the day proved challenging though. Mirrors were still causing her more stress than they probably should. Pulling her make-up bag out from under the sink for the first time in days, Chloe squared her shoulder and looked at the face in the mirror that was both hers and not hers.  _ Get used to it, Decker. This is what you look like now.  _ But her hands shook when she tried to open the make-up bag. Chloe decided that she could skip make-up today. 

Whatever, Lucifer seemed to like her just fine with or without makeup.

But, she had to take pleasure in small victories. That morning during her shower, she was able to remove all of her unwanted hair without a panic attack. So, that was progress.

But today, she was going to sleep with Lucifer Morningstar. She was his Queen, after all. Matching bra and panties were on, and the rest didn’t matter much. She wasn’t planning on wearing clothes for long anyway. She packed an overnight bag with clothes for the next day, pausing to look at her scar-free hand.

90% sure.

No, 100%. This was going to happen. She wanted it. There was nothing holding them back. They had waited long enough. She wanted to show him that she was over her mistakes and her stupidity.

She drove to Lux and parked next to Lucifer's Corvette, her stomach churning with a combination of anticipation and nerves. “I’m about to sleep with Lucifer,” she muttered as the elevator climbed to the penthouse at Lux.

The elevator doors opened.

*****

Kassie Carlton walked through the gates of Heaven with the Angel of Death by her side. The first angel that saw them looked at her with wide eyes and flew off.

Okay, that was weird.

“Ignore her,” Azrael said. “My father wants to speak with you.”

“Your father?”

“God.”

Kassie’s mouth formed a little O. “Am I in trouble?” she asked, quietly.

“No. You’re just the first soul to be released from Hell. He wants to talk to you.”

At first, Kassie thought the stares and the sideways glances were just her imagination, but eventually the road was lined with people whispering and pointing. Kassie’s steps faltered. Azrael took her by the arm. “You’re okay, Kassie. You’re just new. Different. Not a lot changes up here.”

Whispers from the crowd started to filter to Kassie’s ears. “Damned.” “From Hell.” “Sinner.” Kassie inched closer to Azrael’s side. Azrael tightened her grip on Kassie’s arm, leading her up the steps to her father’s audience chamber.

On the dias at the front of the room was a throne. Sitting on a throne was the person that Kassie assumed was God. At the foot of the dias, stood three people. Well, two people and an angel anyway. The human woman was tall, with honey colored hair falling around her shoulders. The man had a kind face and an infectious grin. The angel standing beside them had a stern expression and golden blond hair that curled around his face.

God stood when Kassie reached the foot of the dias. “Welcome, Kassie. We’re so glad to have you here.”

“Thank you, sir,” Kassie said, her voice trembling.

“Allow me to introduce my son, Gabriel, along with Charlotte Richards and John Decker.”

Kassie broke into a smile when she heard their names. “They told me to ask for you,” she said to Charlotte and John.

“Who did?” John asked.

“Your daughter. And,” she cut her eyes to God nervously, “and Lucifer.” She turned back to John. “Chloe saved me. She was wonderful."

John broke into a grin. “Yes, she is.”

Charlotte stepped forward, extending her hand towards Kassie. “Welcome, Kassie. How’s Lucifer doing?”

Kassie shook Charlotte’s hand. “Okay? I think? I mostly talked to Chloe.”

Charlotte grinned. “You know, Lucifer is the reason that I’m here today instead of Hell. Well, him and Amenadiel. I owe them both so much. Tell me, were the people outside jerks to you when you came in?”

Kassie’s eyes widened, and her glance bounced between Charlotte and God.

“You may speak true, Kassie,” God said.

“They said I was damned.”

God shrugged. “You were once, but not anymore. Now the Silver City is your home. Tell me how the Devil and the Angel of Justice released you from your Hell loop.”

Kassie’s eyes squinted. “Not to be presumptuous, but, since you’re God, shouldn’t you know?”

“The realm of Hell mostly exists beyond my sight.”

Kassie nodded, absorbing that. “Chloe came in, and she talked with me. She made me realize that the guilt I had wasn’t right. Well, she said I didn’t deserve to be in Hell, anyway. And the door clicked open, letting me out.”

God nodded. “Very good. Well, you are very welcome here, Kassie. Charlotte? Will you show her to her family? After she settles in, John, would you like to speak with her further?”

“I would,” John said. 

He stepped off the dias and put both hands on Kassie’s shoulders, kissing her forehead. “Welcome home, Kassie Carlton.”

He nodded to Charlotte and she took Kassie from the audience chamber. When the doors at the back of the room opened, it revealed a crowd looking in to catch a glimpse of the formerly damned soul. Charlotte took Kassie’s hand, held her head high and led Kassie through the crowd.

“Azrael, I believe you have work to do?”

“Yes, Father,” she said, before flying from the room.

“Gabriel, speak with the guards. If anyone gives Kassie trouble, I’d like to hear about it.

“Yes, Father.” He bowed before following his sister from the room.

God turned to John Decker. “May I have a word, John?”

“Yes, sir.” 

“You should be proud of your daughter today, John. She did what no one else could do. And she saved that young woman from a horrible fate.”

“Yes, sir. My little Monkey has always been remarkable.”

“Indeed. I feel that I owe you an apology, John. You didn’t ask to have an angel for a daughter, and I’m afraid that the life she will live will not be an easy one. I feel that I’ve robbed you of your time with your daughter in Heaven.”

“You told me that she was being punished for what she did to your son. But you orchestrated the whole thing, didn't you?”

God nodded. “I did. I needed Chloe to know what it felt like to betray someone and regret it. Otherwise she wouldn’t be able to cross into Hell. And she has important work to do there.”

“You’re God, can’t you just…”

God sighed. “The realms existed before I did, John. While I have a large amount of control over Heaven, and a fair amount of influence on Earth, Hell has always been just beyond my reach. Hell will speak to me if she wants, but she keeps her gates closed to souls without guilt for the most part, including mine. My poor Samael. When I created him, I gave him enough of a free spirit to betray me, thinking that Hell would accept him as King and he would be able to keep it under control. In that, I was successful. But, the system that determines where a soul goes after death was created by the realms themselves. Unfortunately, the system has errors. When my wife and I discovered this problem, we created your daughter’s soul with the gift of Justice to allow her to judge who truly belongs in Hell.”

“That’s quite a burden to put on someone.”

“It is.”

John’s gaze turned distant as his mind whirled. “If you and your wife created her, is she really even mine?”

“Of course!” God said, shocked. “In her original creation, she was a child of mine, like all the other angels. But over time, I changed her and gave enough malleability to her essence to allow her to be your child in almost every way. Her angelic side was made dormant until the right circumstances fell into place to prepare her for the role she was created to fill.”

“Until she committed a grave enough sin for Hell to accept her, you mean.”

“Exactly. It took longer than I thought. You truly raised a remarkable child. And she never would have made the choices she made if I hadn’t pushed her in that direction. She will come to visit you from time to time, as is her right, but she will spend most of eternity in Hell, fixing that which is unjust. As I said, I feel I owe you an apology.”

“You owe Chloe an apology,” John said through clenched teeth. “Sounds like you owe your son one as well.”

“That may come in time,” God said, waving his hand dismissively. “Now, John. I’d like to ask for your assistance. Continue your daughter’s work and help the previously damned integrate into Heaven. I’m afraid the systems that exist don’t react well to new variables. I’m concerned about what may happen. Keep an eye on Kassie for me, will you?.”

“I won’t do it for you, but I’ll do it for Chloe.”

“All I ask is that it’s done.”

*****

The elevator doors opened.

Chloe’s eyes widened as she took in the view in front of her. It looked like a bakery exploded inside the penthouse. Pastries and sweets of every variety covered the bar and the piano. “Lucifer?” Chloe called out. “Were you planning on having a party?”

“Ah, good. You’re here!” Lucifer said, waltzing into the room. He pulled a tray off the piano and held it out to her. “Start with this.”

Chloe tentatively plucked a cannoli off the tray. “What’s all this?”

“You, my dear, have spent far too many years denying your desires. And, I thought you might like to indulge in a bit of gluttony now that calories aren’t a concern.”

She stared at him, her jaw opened.

“Eat!” Lucifer said, waving his hand towards the cannoli.

“We’ll never be able to go through all of this.”

“Not if you don’t get started. We can box the rest up for your spawn. I’m sure she’ll help us.”

He was watching her, eyes wide, waiting for her to eat. With a resigned sigh, she brought the cannoli to her mouth and took a small bite. Her eyes sparkled as the ricotta hit her tongue.

Lucifer gave a wide, lovely, innocent smile at the sight of her pleasure. How could she ever think that he was evil? 

He picked a cookie off the tray and took a bite, his grin turning into something less innocent. No one should be allowed to look that good eating a cookie. But two could play at that game. She took a larger bite of the cannoli, letting the tip of the pastry rest in her mouth just a moment longer than necessary. She bit down, giving him a smile.

Lucifer’s eyes went wide. He took a step closer and took the cannoli from her hand. "Chloe, what do you desire?"

"Not pastries."

He ran a single finger down her arm. "I don't want you to feel forced into anything. You're not…  _ obligated…  _ because of the whole Queen of Hell bit."

"I know." She placed a hand over his heart, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

"And I don't want you to do this because you feel you need to prove something to me. You don't."

Chloe lowered her eyes to her hand, idly rubbing over his chest. That was a bit close to the mark. But, that didn't matter. She was going to sleep with Lucifer Morningstar today. Right now. She stood on her tiptoes again and pressed her lips to the Devil’s.

He didn’t respond at first, so she pressed her entire body into his. She felt his arms slowly rap around her waist. “Chloe,” he whispered against her lips, sounding unsure.

Her eyes squeezed shut and tears threatened to escape. “Lucifer, please,” she begged. 

_ Please accept me. Please forgive me. Please love me. Please want me the way I want you. _

His entire body shuddered against hers, and suddenly he was  _ taking.  _ Taking her lips, demanding entrance with his tongue. His hands pulled her tight against him, claiming her. Marking her as  _ his.  _ And she gave. Gave him everything. She put all of her desire and pain and longing and fear into the kiss, letting her hands grip the hair on the back of his head, holding her to him.

He hoisted her up, wrapping her legs around his waist, and, through their clothes, she could feel his desire pressing against her own.

She broke away from his kiss and let her head fall back as he kissed down the column of her throat. Her hands reached blindly for the buttons of his shirt, but her fingers lacked the coordination to remove them one at a time. She ripped the shirt apart, buttons flying, and he  _ growled.  _ Something low. Something not entirely human.

And, oh, that shouldn’t have done it for her, but it did.

She gripped over his hidden wings and under his shirt and pressed her lips to his once again as he wiggled out of his shirt, the movement doing very interesting things below her waist. Once his arms were free, he brought his hands to the hem of her shirt. She tensed. She still didn’t like to be naked.

Lucifer pulled back and looked at her. “Okay, Chloe?”

Well, honestly, she was expecting to get laid. She couldn’t do that with all her clothes on. She nodded. “Okay,” she said with a smile as her shirt joined his on the ground. An instant later, she was on her back in his bed, with Lucifer leaning over her. “Lovely,” he breathed, taking in her almost bare torso.

Her breath hitched. But this was okay. She wanted this. Wanted  _ him.  _ Stupid perfected angel body be damned. Maybe literally. Raising her hand to his face, she redirected his gaze back to her eyes and smiled at him. He smiled back, his eyes as bright as the stars.

His lips joined with hers again and one of his long hands trailed from her thighs to her side, to finally cup her breast through her bra.

She jolted like she’d been shocked.

Lucifer immediately pulled away, looking down at her, questions in his eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I should have told you. I just don’t like it when, well…”

“You don’t like being touched there?”

Chloe nodded, biting her lip. “I’m sorry.”

Concern immediately crossed Lucifer’s face and he leaned over her again, brushing hair from her cheek. “Darling, you have nothing to apologize for. It won’t happen again unless you ask, okay?”

She gave him a small smile. Of course, Lucifer would end up being a considerate lover. How could she have ever wanted to betray him? “Thank you,” she whispered.

“Do you want to stop?” he asked. 

Chloe shook her head, bringing her hand to the side of his face. “No, I’ve wanted this for a long time, Lucifer.”

“As have I.”

She sat up a bit and pressed her lips to his again, and they held there for a moment, still except for the motion of their lips. Lucifer broke away, pressing a kiss to each cheek, lingering for a moment on the mole under her eye. “I’ve thought about kissing your beauty mark for ages. I love how it moves when you smile.” A grin broke across her face. “Just like that,” Lucifer said, returning her grin. “Is there anything south of the border that you would like me to avoid?”

“That's a pretty broad question," she said with a grin.

"You know what I mean."

"No, you're okay," she smiled back.

"Excellent." He pressed a kiss to her mole again and trailed his mouth down to her collarbone. True to his word, he skipped past her breasts and continued down her ribcage. His hand trailed over her perfected stomach and she pulled in a breath.  _ It's okay. It's Lucifer. It's okay.  _ But when his lips traced over the spot that once held her deepest stretch mark, she pulled away, sitting up. 

Worry and shocked filled his eyes as he met her panicked gaze.

"Lucifer," she gasped, tears beginning to fall, "I'm so sorry, I can't. It's not you, I promise. I just…. can't. I'm so sorry." She sprung from the bed.

*****

Michael, the Prince of Heaven spread his wings, knocking down several demons and lifted off from the killing field of the Great Amphitheater of Hell. Two of the Lilim managed to retain their grip on him, though, one sinking its claws into his leg and the other gripping him around the waist while sinking its teeth into his arm.

He twisted and turned in the air as best as he could with the additional weight, which dislodged the demon on his leg, but the one around his waist held firm. Michael gripped its arms and  _ yanked  _ grunting in pain as he felt its teeth tear his skin. The demon swung its legs, trying to find purchase, but Michael let it drop back into the melee below. 

The demons had first become upset over the addition of the second throne in Hell, but Lilith had managed to calm her children. That was, of course, until reports made it to her of Lucifer returning with an angel with golden hair and wings the color of fire sitting on the high throne by Lucifer's side.

Maybe Lilith had thought the second throne would be hers? The idiot. Her purpose was to produce Hellspawn, not to rule. How dare she think she could sit alongside an angel?

Michael felt he was  _ very  _ successful in putting her in her place. She glared, but honestly, what could one little human do to him?

But when the denizens of Hell were made aware of the fact that a soul had escaped from their cell?

Well, all Hell broke loose. Literally.

The 13 Elder Demons, Lilith and a vast majority of the Lilim gathered in the Amphitheater to air their grievances. Michael ignored these proceedings at first, flying high above the crowd below. But when cries below started calling him a coward?

He was the Sword of God. No one calls him a coward.

He landed in the middle of the field. “I am the Prince of Heaven, foul beasts! You WILL stand down! I command it!”

The demons just laughed at him.

Lilith idly stroked her belly, rounded with Hellspawn. “If you’re trying to get sentient beings to behave, maybe you should refrain from calling them ‘foul beasts,’” she said dryly. 

And, really, it all went downhill from there.

Michael attempted to control the demons. He had the authority here! But the disgusting creatures had no respect. Someone threw a rock at him. At  _ him!  _ He, of course, retaliated. 

And that was how the Prince of Heaven found himself flying above the city, blood dripping from various wounds.

Below him, he could see demons spilling through the streets of the city to the Hell loops beyond, yanking doors open to torture the souls within. Michael didn't like that. The demons knew that. Why wouldn't they listen to him? But every time he flew low to try and stop them, objects were thrown at him. At one point, a demon even sprang from a rooftop to land on his back, almost knocking him into the carnage below.

When he finally shook that one off, he decided enough was enough.

A demon shouted from below, "Run away, little bird! Go crying back to Daddy!"

He wasn't running away, stupid demon. This was a tactical retreat!

Hell shouldn't be his problem anyway. So, for now, it was time to put this problem in the hands of his twin.

His twin whom he hadn't seen in thousands of years.

His twin who would light up a whole room with the sound of his laughter and who, in those early days, was Michael's best friend.

His twin who betrayed them all.

It was time to give this problem back to Lucifer.

*****

Chloe sprung from his bed. Lucifer watched as she grabbed her long sleeved shirt from the floor and yanked it over her head. She stalked to the window, tears streaming down her face. He had seen this happen before, unfortunately. People who wanted to be intimate and then pulled away after he touched a certain area, or moved a certain way. After eons of experience, he knew what this meant. Somewhere in their past had been trauma or pain. And his heart felt like lead at the thought of Chloe in pain.

He was often been rightfully accused of being insensitive, but, in this instance, Lucifer knew what to do. He approached her slowly, stopping a few paces behind her. "Chloe, I'm sorry."

Chloe shook her head, wiping tears from her eyes.

He sighed. He wanted to hold her, but he knew that wouldn't help right now. After a minute of consideration, he spoke. "Chloe, do you remember that night, early in our partnership where you tried to touch the scars on my back?"

She sniffed. Lucifer took that as a yes.

"When I first cut them off, I avoided showing my back to my bed mates. I always assumed that they would ask about them, but none of them ever did. Every now and then, one of them would run their hands along the scars. They would pause for just a second, and then go back to doing what made them feel good. Over time, I forgot to keep them hidden. No one cared about me. Not really. Not until you. When you saw my scars, though, you were concerned about  _ me,  _ not what I could give you." Lucifer still marveled at that. That someone cared. And she still did, he knew that. She'd just been lost for a while. "Chloe, I didn't like people touching them. They were a reminder of the angel I used to be. They were a part of my body that wasn't mine."

Chloe remained silent, but he saw her shoulders sag slightly.

"I took a person to bed four or five years ago. I touched the breasts, the person jerked away. So I stopped doing it. After we were done, I asked my question, 'what do you desire?' He said that he wanted to transition. I called in a few favors and set him up with the best gender reassignment doctors in Los Angeles. His name is Christopher now, and he's doing quite well. He came back in a few months ago to say hello and he explained to me why he shied away when I touched his breasts."

"Why?" Chloe asked, her voice low and rough.

"Because the body he had wasn't the one he felt he should have. He'd always felt like a man and any time someone touched his breasts, it just reminded him that he wasn't who he was supposed to be."

Chloe's shoulders relaxed by inches, but she stayed silent.

"I took a girl to bed maybe six months ago. Her name was Melissa. She was practically burning to take me upstairs, so I compiled. But the minute I ran her hands across her body, she froze and broke down in tears. We ended up talking for hours. Someone had taken advantage of her a month earlier. She said she wanted to erase the feel of her attacker’s hands on her body, which is why she came to me. Melissa wanted to reclaim her body, but it was too soon for her. Linda recommended a good counselor for her."

"Lucifer, I haven't been through any of that. I wasn't born into the wrong body. I wasn't assaulted. And I  _ want  _ to be with you. I want you to know that I'm okay now. And I can't even do that right. I keep messing it all up," she ended in a whisper

"You haven't done anything wrong. Chloe, for both Melissa and Christopher, I stopped when I made them uncomfortable, and it didn't bother me at all. And they were strangers. What makes you think that I wouldn't give you the same consideration? If you're not ready, even if you're never ready, I will never push you. You don't have to prove anything to me."

Chloe wiped tears from her eyes. "I want to be ready. I'm being ridiculous."

Lucifer took a step closer to her, wanting so much to hold her, but he stopped himself at the last second, not knowing how his touch would be received. "No, you're not. Something traumatic happened to you and it made you uncomfortable in your own skin. Remember, Chloe, my body was changed too. And it took me a very long time to get used to it."

"It's not just that. It's that stupid movie. It's Pierce. It's every idiotic boy that I've ever slept with."

"The douche?" Lucifer said with a growl.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Dan was… respectful. That's part of what drew me to him. But, Lucifer, my body has never been mine. Not really. And all this," she gestured at her back where her wings hid, "just made it worse."

He sighed. It killed him that she felt this way. "As a person with two faces, I can at least sympathize. Even if I've never showed my breasts in a movie."

She gave a small snort and finally turned to him. "Can I ask you something about that?"

"My breasts?"

Another small giggle. "No, the two faces."

"Of course."

She sighed. "I don't want to insult you."

His lips quirked in a small grin. "You want to know which face is real? Linda asked that too."

She nodded. 

"Both, I think," he said with a shrug. "In Hell, I very rarely look like this. The demons seem to better respond to the other form." He looked down at his hands. "I've gone centuries at a time without ever seeing this skin. If you added up all the time since my fall, I've worn the other face more. But this," he said, gesturing to his alabaster skin, "is the face I was born with. So, I think that they're both me. When I first fell, I couldn't change out of my Hellform. I did everything possible to avoid looking at myself. I even wore gloves so that I didn't have to see my hands. Chloe, if anyone knows what it feels like to hate their own skin, it's me."

She gave him a small smile then and fell into his arms. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around her back.

"I'm sorry you went through that, Lucifer."

"I'm sorry you're going through it now."

*****

Somehow, the two ended up sitting together on Lucifer’s couch, watching  _ Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. _ Chloe had recommended it. “Since you’re such a fan of teen movies, you should at least watch a good one,” she had said. 

It was exactly what they needed. The movie was funnier with Lucifer next to her. As always, his presence brought light to her life. Things hadn’t been like this between them since she’d seen his other face. No, that wasn’t right. Things hadn’t been right between them since Pierce, and, before that, Candy. She had missed him.

As he leaned forward to grab another pastry off the coffee table, Chloe’s eyes turned from the television to his profile. 

_ I love him. _

She knew this before, of course. She’d first thought it on the night of Charlotte’s death, and it was exciting. After the mess with Kinley, however, it felt tainted. Her love for him allowed her to sink even deeper into her own self-loathing.

But this, this feeling that coursed through her was pure and beautiful and new. It was real. 

When Lucifer leaned back, pastry in hand, she looped her hand through his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. She felt him stiffen. “Is this okay?” she asked.

“It’s perfect,” he said, relaxing and resting his head on hers.

But, as seemed to be their fate, their moment of perfection was cut short.

A ball of golden feathers rolled through the open balcony window, crashing through the glass coffee table to land at their feet.

Lucifer leaped behind the couch, pulling Chloe with him. He shoved her behind his back and unfurled his wings, puffing them up aggressively.

_ "Michael,"  _ Lucifer said with a hiss.

The feathers fell back, revealing a carbon copy of Lucifer, panting and bleeding. "You're needed," Michael gasped. "You and your Queen. Hell is in revolt."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Negative reactions to sexual contact as a result of previous trauma.
> 
> I'm going to spend the next month pushing out a couple of one shots, and getting a big chunk of the next part of the story written. Thank you so much for reading and coming on this ride with me! And a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has commented, kudo'ed and supported me along the way.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and suggestions are appreciated! Thank you for reading!


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